avatiakh reads towards 75 and beyond in 2010

Looking forward to the New Year. My 2010 goal is to read more New Zealand and Israeli fiction and to dive full on into lots of scifi and fantasy after putting it on the backburner for a year.

My 1010 Challenge Categories are: 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up / Israeli fiction / New Zealand fiction / Science Fiction / Fantasy / LT Recommendations / Historical and Epic / My TBR / YA fiction / Nonfiction
Bonus category: Patricia Highsmith Crimewave:
Take It or Leave It (TIOLI ) Challenge: April: short story collection: Charlotte Grimshaw's Opportunity
& Book with a city in the title: Mo Zhi Hong's The year of the Shanghai Shark
& Poetry by a living poet: Cup by Alison Wong

Currently Reading: - too many at once!

My intro is here

Leftovers from 2009 that I'm hoping to get a chance to read sometime during the year include:


Reading in Hebrew - I'd love to brush up my Hebrew so am contemplating giving Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone a go. I think I can achieve this if I keep the English copy and a dictionary alongside.

Glad to see you back, Kerry!

*waves hello* and starring you

Welcome back!

Starred! Wouldn't miss your thread (and the Israeli fiction on it) for the world...

Starred! Interested in the Israeli fiction... I wish I'd kept up with my Hebrew, it would be so fun to read Harry Potter in Hebrew! But I do have a copy in Ancient Greek... maybe I'll do that this year, dictionary and English copy nearby :)

Ooh, if you're looking for ancient Greek, there's a group read of Herodotus going on in the 1010 challenge group... at a nice leisurely pace of one book a month, for those of us who may want to struggle through the original.

Found you! Looking forward to seeing your Israeli fiction reads.

I can recommend Harry Potter for reading in a language you're rusty in - I did the same with French and surprised myself by my limited need for a dictionary - I think it's partly because the story is so familiar, but also, the first couple of books are quite simply written...

Looking forward to your thoughts on Prince of Stories - I can't decide whether or not I want to read it...

What great categories! It already looks like it's going to be a good year for you.

*waving hi*

Got you starred.

Ah! Here you are, Kerrymelon. *resumes lurking*

Hi Kerry - starred and ready to lurk as per 2009. Love your reading choices and comments.

I am planning to read the Harry Potter books in 2010, not in Hebrew or English, but the Dutch translation ;-)

I've always wondered what your LT name meant! Looking forward to your thoughts on Alison Wong - it's out in the UK later this year, looks really good.

Firstly thanks to everyone for their welcome posts, I have tried to steer clear of posting too much over here till the year started. My first two books were both started in the past week but I only finished them in 2010.

1) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)
fiction
This wonderful slice of historical fiction won last year's Booker Prize and has been praised to the skies by almost everyone who reads it, I loved it too. It was an immensely satisfying read and joined up a few more dots on my limited knowledge of this historical period which I always find so fascinating because of the politics and religious issues at play.
A couple of years ago I read CJ Sansom's Sovereign and now I'm going to make a beeline for the rest of his Matthew Shardlake books which are set in the same period.

2) The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (1948)
fiction
I've had Tey's Daughter of Time sitting unread on my bookshelves for a few years despite knowing that it is a favourite read for many. So I picked up a battered copy of her The Franchise Affair from a used bookstore expecting to just add it to my tbr pile, but within a couple of days FlossieT posted such a glowing review of it, I had to read it asap.

This is a delightful mystery that introduces a quirky cast of characters. A schoolgirl claims she has been kidnapped and held in the attic of a lonely country home till she escapes. She also accuses the two women of beating her. They claim never to have seen the girl before. Who is telling the truth? When Robert Blair, a country solicitor, is asked to look after the interests of the two Sharpe women his life will never be the same again. A recommended read, and I must look out DoT and read it as well.


Go Fish by Al Brown (2009)
cookbook, new zealand

This is a fab look at seafood, fish and recreational fishing for New Zealanders. Full of recollections and casual photos of ordinary people in the activity of collecting shellfish or out in boats etc as well as stunning food photography. I especially liked the interview section at the end where comments about sustainability etc were sought from a cross-section of people such as a fisheries officer, the Minister of Fisheries, recreational & commercial fishermen etc. There has been a great plundering of New Zealand's seafood stocks on the beaches near our cities by new immigrants to our country, who then plead a lack of English when signage on prohibition or limits are pointed out to them. Overfishing and underprotection of the world's oceans is a growing problem everywhere.

The recipes range from the totally simple such as homemade fish & chips or fresh crayfish stuffed into a hotdog bun along with tomato sauce and sweetened condensed milk - a camping treat, to gourmet preparations of lobster or abalone. I was taken with most of the fish recipes that included sides of green salsa or exotic combinations of couscous and spices. I'm not a seafood fan though I served my apprenticeship in fish/seafood collection with a childhood spent around boats, nets and fishing. Although I'd prefer to order most of the dishes in a good restaurant rather than prepare myself, I was inspired enough to bring home 3 crabs a few days ago to make crab cakes. I ended up using Gordon Ramsay's recipe mainly because the addition of mashed potato meant I could make more.
Al Brown is a partner in Wellington's Logan Brown Restaurant, which was voted New Zealand's top restaurant in 2009.
Examples of his recipes can be found on his website: http://www.albrown.co.nz/

Now to tackle some of the January challenges that I've signed up to since yesterday.

edit: fix image

It sounds like The Franchise Affair will fit nicely into my mystery category for my 1010 challenge. Thank you Kerrie.

I am paralyzed and cannot stop Franchise Affair sauntering over to my wish list. Sounds like something I'm going to enjoy reading.

I liked your review of Go Fish and I may keep an eye out for it. I love crab cakes and love trying out different crab cake recipes. I can't stand Gordon Ramsay and refuse to get any of his books, watch his tv programs or visit his restaurants. He's so obnoxious.

Hi Avatiakh,
I look forward to hearing what you think of As the Earth Turns Silver when you're done – I'm a big fan of Alison's poetry, and I've heard lots of good things about the novel. (Yet another book for my wishlist …)

Hurrah! SO pleased you liked The Franchise Affair. Mystery aside, I found her penetrating observations of character endlessly fascinating. I'd like to read The Daughter of Time this year too.

I love Josephine Tey! She has been a favorite of mine for years, so I am glad people in the group are discovering (or in my case, rediscovering) her. The Daughter of Time is one of my all-time favorite books.

I agree with Stasia about The Daughter of Time--one of my all-time favorites. Fortunately, The Franchise Affair is already on my list! No need to add it!

3) Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda (2004)
fiction, France, 1010 challenge

Early last year I watched a lot of foreign films and was especially enchanted by Hunting and Gathering (Ensemble, c'est tout) which starred Audrey Tatou, so I was delighted to find out it was based on a popular French novel. I really loved the main characters and having the chance to spend time with them once again has been a treat.
The novel is set in Paris and stars three flawed individuals: Franck, an overworked promising young chef who is responsible for his ailing grandmother; Camille, an anorexic office cleaner who could be a successful artist; Philibert, a stuttering aristocratic young man who sells postcards. Together they create their own odd little family in Philibert's rambling, old apartment.
Easier to read than The Elegance of the Hedgehog and offering wonderful glimpses of Parisian life.

Looks like another good one. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

This sounds like a lot of fun. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

Hi There and Happy Almost Birthday. I hope tomorrow brings joy and lots and lots of birthday cake!

This one sounds interesting, especially because I hope to visit Paris for the first time this spring. Onto the wish list it goes; thanks, Kerry!

#28 Thanks Linda - it's already 4 Jan here. As I'm one of those now on the wrong side of 50 I'll be celebrating the anniversary of my 29th birthday. No birthday cake just an extra special dinner at home.

#27 & 28: Hunting and Gathering is probably more sentimental than lightweight, I found it hard to place - but do read a few more reviews.
Darryl, I thought you went to Paris last year. Have you seen the movie 'Round Midnight' which is set in Paris?

Happy Birthday Kerry!

Funny, I celebrated my first, second and third 29th birthday, as I refused to be 30 ;-)
Then at 32 I returned to the more usual numbered birthdays and age did not bother me anymore.
Anita

Happy Birthday, Kerry!

Add my birthday wishes to the rest!

Happy Birthday, Kerry!

Happy Birthday Kerry :)

Best wishes on your birthday, Kerry!

Happy Birthday Kerry!

Happy Birthday, Kerry, and many more!

Happy Birthday, Kerry! I hope that you are having a wonderful day!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes.
#39 It's already midday tomorrow here in New Zealand!! But yesterday was great.

Hope you had a lovely birthday!

Happy belated birthday, Kerry.

I am going to visit my parents in Waikanae next month - so will be sure to try out the Logan Brown Restuarant. Maybe my sister can shout me a dinner there as she lives in Wellington. Thanks for the tip.

I'm glad your mumblety-first birthday was a good one, Kerrymelon, and many happy returns of the day.

Hunting and Gathering looks like a winner, drat it.

4) Storm Front by Jim Butcher (2000)
Dresden Files Book One
fiction, fantasy, 1010 challenge

This was a fun read. Harry Dresden is a private investigator with a difference...he's a wizard. This was an LT recommended read from last year's 75 book challenge.

#42 Karen - A meal at Logan Browns would be a treat.
#43 Richard - thank you. I'm glad I didn't go with my second choice - melafefon (cucumber)!
Just watch the movie, it's almost as good as the book.

I'm going to have to stall on a lot of my current reading and switch to children's fantasy & scifi for a couple of weeks as I need to put together some reviews.

edit: my keyboard is useless

Happy birthday for 3 days ago Kerry!

Karen - Logan Brown is wonderful. I hope you get there when you're home.

Belated Happy New Year and Birthday Kerry!

Yay for all the love of The Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair! I love Josephine Tey, although I haven't read any of her stuff in years - I've had to look all her stuff out again...

...and not to sound like a broken record, but everyone who enjoyed The Franchise Affair etc, please read Brat Farrar, if you haven't already. Think you'll enjoy it! ;o)

Love your writing style here. :)

Something I learned this year on things French (my husband is French). They don't have or 'get' the 29th, 39th bday joke/idea/practice. He turned 39 this year (to my 48). On Facebook I said, 'He turned 39 -- his first 39th.' A lot of comments were lol-ish. But the husb didn't get it :) then we explored the idea so I found they don't have a corresponding practice.

well i'm blathering... Guess I'll go now (yikes)

Happy Belated :)

Belated happy birthday, Kerry.

I love Audrey Tatou. I need to look for this movie. The book sounds wonderful too, so I've added Hunting and Gathering to my wish list.

>47 suslyn: I've just bought my sister-in-law a birthday card that says "29 Again" on it (this will be only her second "29th").

edit to actually say something about a book: Harry Dresden sounds great fun! Will put on the wishlist.

The Sandman - the Dolls House Vol 2 by Neil Gaiman (1990)
The Sandman - Dream Country Vol 3 by Neil Gaiman (1990)
graphic novels
Continuing with my reading through the Sandman series - highly imaginative, gothic, dark, horror etc etc. I'm enjoying these stories.

5) Brigands MC by Robert Muchamore (2009)
Cherub series book 11
YA fiction
Another exciting installment where James, his sister Lauren and fellow Cherub Dante go undercover to get evidence against motorbike club, The Brigands, suspected of illegal arms trafficking. The final book in the series Shadow Wave is due out later this year.

6) X-isle by Steve Augarde (2009)
YA fiction
This was my first book by Augarde though I have had his Touchstone trilogy on my tbr for a long time. X-isle is set in the near future after a catastrophic hurricane and subsequent flooding, earthquakes, eruptions have decimated much of the planet. With most of the UK underwater, Baz and his father have scratched out an existence but the best chance for a better life for Baz is to be chosen as one of the boys to go to X-isle, a haven run by Preacher John. But once Baz gets to the island he finds the truth about X-isle is closer to a living nightmare.
Another really exciting read. There is a small twist that I spotted right near the beginning that doesn't impact particularly on the outcome but would be a bonus for the unsuspecting.

As so many others are listing new arrivals to their homes I'm going to as well:

The Dig by John Preston
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
A Writer at War Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941-45
A Seat at the Table by Joshua Halberstam
Marks of Identity by Juan Goytisolo

#46 flissp - I got Brat Farrar from the library so will try to read it soon.

edit: spelling

I get the jokes about being "29" or "39" again, but never got the fear/unease until I got to 60. Now I'm thinking I should go back to "59 x 2" and hope people don't translate that as 118 yrs. old.

Kerry : Interesting set of books you brought home. I've read The House in Paris and will be interested to see what you thought of it.

LOL ... but think of all the compliments you'll get, Bonnie if they thought you were 118?

>50 avatiakh: I read The Dig last year and really enjoyed it. I hope you like it.

I've got Brat Farrar in my TBR pile too. I was going to suggest a group read, but I expect you'll have to take it back to the library too soon for that. :)

> 51 Bonnie, may I be the first to wish you a happy 119th ;->

Hey! ;-( That's not for another 9 months! Change of topic--quick! I got a small griddle so that I can cook my fish outdoors--I think I'll try the Go Fish! cookbook. Or, if it's not a cookbook, I'll at least "troll" for recipes!

#52 cameling - Susan Hill wrote about Elizabeth Bowen in Howards End is on the Landing

#53 CatyM - If you want to do a group read I can always get the book out again - any excuse to read a book later is good for me at present. I have a lot of reading to get through this month with all the mini challenges.
I saw The Dig on LT gaskella's best of the noughties list, it sounded too good not to try: http://gaskella.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-books-of-noughties.html

.

>56 avatiakh: It started out as an idle thought but now I'm seriously tempted by this idea.

I know there are lots of people around here who are Tey fans, and The Daughter of Time and The Franchise Affair have been mentioned a lot in the last few months. (Or maybe I just noticed all the comments because I read them for the first time a couple of months ago.)

How about doing it as a group read in the spring? March? May?

Are there other Tey fans still lurking here? What do you folks think?

#50 Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

#51 I didn't really mind turning 30 - funnily, my younger sister turning 30 was stranger. What I do find a little disturbing is re-reading all these books I read when I was at school, where the central characters were older than me, but are now younger!

#56/57 I'd be on for a group read of Brat Farrar - it's years since I've read it.

Having your kids turn 30 is what's really strange! lol

Chiming in on the conversation regarding the perception of age, 25 years ago when I began my career at the university, I said it was an awkward position to be in because I was mentoring/supervising students wherein I wasn't old enough to be their parent, but not young enough to be their buddies. When my oldest daughter was enrolled here, it dawned on me that I hit a milestone because I was then indeed old enough to the the mother of the students.

Now, I am invited to weddings and receive birth announcements... I think I'm out of here before my students become grandparents....

7) Season of Secrets by Sally Nicholls (2009)
children's fiction
I adored her Ways to live forever which dealt with a boy dying of leukaemia and I've just found out it's currently being filmed.
I was looking forward to reading Season of Secrets with its entanglement of the Green Man myth and a modern setting. Molly and her sister are sent to live with their grandparents in a small village when their father can no longer cope after the death of their mother. It's Autumn and Molly encounters the Green Man one night when he is being chased by a horned rider and his hunters.
I enjoyed this although there are awkward bits where the mythical world doesn't really crossover that cleanly - Molly was a delightful character - a fan of the Famous Five & Secret Seven.

Abandoned: Maybe I'll come back to these two books I've currently tossed aside..
French Toast - nonfiction about food around France by New Zealand foodie Peta Mathias - I just don't get her
Banquo's Son - too saccharine, too romantic, too loveydovey in the first 50 pages. yuk yuk yuk
I don't care that they fall in love in chapter one, I want some action and adventure.

edit: lost most of my post due to annoying keyboard that continues to delete text when I least expect it, so I've had to retype from memory.

#61: Sadly, neither of the two Sally Nicholls' books that you mentioned are available at my local library. I will hunt elsewhere for them.

I also seem to be abandoning books at a mopre rapid pace this year compared to last when I only abandoned 2 the entire year. I have already jettisoned 2 in January!

#56, 58 I asked about this in the crime/mystery thread and there were a couple of people who said they were interested, which makes at least a half-dozen of us so far, so I've taken the liberty of setting up a couple of threads for a group read of Brat Farrar.

8) Tiny Deaths by Rob Shearman (2007)
short stories
see below #66


9) Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (1928)
fiction
A totally entertaining read - fun, hilarious utter nonsense as Paul tries living in the real world of 1920s England. I picked this up in the bookstore and started reading it and had to bring it home.
Paul Pennyfeather was an industrious, boring theology student until getting sent down from Oxford through no fault of his own. Rather due to the antics of the drunken members of the elite Bollinger Club out celebrating their annual dinner, which is only held every 3 years or so due to the mayhem and destruction caused around the various colleges. Paul must now earn a living and is heartened to land a teaching job at a boy's school in Wales.


10) Ancient Appetites by Oisin McGann (2007)
YA fiction, Ireland
I wanted to read more Irish children's and YA fiction and Oisin McGann seemed a logical choice to follow Kate Thompson, Eoin Colfer, and Darren Shan.
This fantasy is set in an alternate Victorian-age Ireland. The Wildenstern family have created an empire over hundreds of years of dominance, owning many estates and trade interests and live in a massive 37 story mansion outside Dublin. Nathaniel, the youngest son has just returned from 2 years in Africa and before he even reaches home learns of the death of his oldest brother and heir. He has been hunting engimals - a strange fusion of machine and beast found in the wild and able to be tamed. Due to the strange family rules of Ascension Nat is suspicious and determined to find the killer before the killer finds him.
This is a fantasy thriller with the engimals providing a steampunk-ish gloss. I enjoyed it immensely.

Thanks for the tip to Howards End is on the Landing ... I've managed to find a copy in the Book Depository.

Decline and Fall is definitely going on my wish list. I new to Evelyn Waugh and have only read Black Mischief. I have Vile Bodies in my TBR tower somewhere.

8) Tiny Deaths by Rob Shearman (2007)
short stories

Rob Shearman is an LT author, and I came across him when adding an obscure book to my library that he also had a copy of. After trading a few messages I was keen to read his book especially after reading on his bio that he wrote the Dr Who script that brought back the daleks.

My favourite story has to be Tiny Deaths in which Jesus is reborn as a different character each time he dies and must relive the same lifetime - a sort of eternal Groundhog Day.
The other stories are all quirky, starring ordinary people thrown into fantastical situations. Black humour abounds along with death in many guises, while giving birth takes on new meaning.

Yours is such a fascinating thread. Even though I'm trying very hard to read books off my shelf, after reading your descriptions, I have to add your books #8,9 and 10!

#65 & 67 - thanks. I'm definitely reading more of Evelyn Waugh. Up to now I had only read Brideshead Revisited which I really liked, but these satires of his are hilarious. Scoop and Vile Bodies are now on my wishlist and it looks like I'll have to add Black Mischief too.

Black Mischief is hysterical. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Tiny Deaths sounds wonderful. Off to the wish list it goes. Grr....the 2nd one from you today!

>50 avatiakh:/53/56 citizenkelly also loved The Dig, and she is a woman of great taste and discernment, not to mention humungous talent. So it must be good.

>57 Eat_Read_Knit: I'm sure I'd pitch in for a group read of Brat Farrar - flissp loves it, so it must be good. <I am gagging to insert a happy emoticon here but I gave them up for 2010.... argh.... this is harder than I thought>

>61 avatiakh: I've put a couple of Peta Mathias books on my wishlist, though I can't now remember why - would you be willing to elaborate on what you "don't get", Kerry? I got a bit annoyed with Penguin NZ's blanket promotion of Banquo's Son so had been blanking it on principle - glad to hear I don't need to un-blank.

>64 avatiakh: something you enjoyed "immensely" and put in the same box as Kate Thompson sounds very promising - I'd never heard of this. Off to check it out.

LOL I feel a bit like Whisper (msg 67). There's no point in my having a TBR 'cause I generally can't get the books, but your blurb on Waugh's book makes me want to start one :)

#70 Rachael - Peta is fairly popular here and has done at least one tv series - Taste of New Zealand which is currently being recycled. She's a bit of a madcap with her red hair and always wears some sort of floral headpiece (garnish). She's a frills and flounces, flirty sort of personality which is unusual for a presenter of her mature age. I will keep reading French Toast but I can't quite understand who she is writing it for - she calls the French - froggies from time to time which I hate. She talks about buying and wearing the wrong shoes (always high heeled), then drifts off to give a history of coffee for a couple of pages and most of the rest reads like amateur diary entries. There are some interesting facts in there, but they are lost in all the mundane details. Maybe there's hope when she leaves Paris for the countryside.
I also tried her Can we help it if we're fabulous? last year and tossed it aside after a few chapters - I'm not the sort of woman she is writing for.
I think her A cooks tour of New Zealand is good - it is an A-Z of interesting foods, markets, delis, eateries plus recipes.

Banquo's Son - I knew what to expect as I've read all her other books but hoped that it would rise above the hype. Oh well, I will have to finish it at some stage, I'll just read it very slowly.

Oh, dear, Ancient Appetites definitely has to go on the TBR wishlist!

#73 - and I haven't even mentioned the bog people!

#64: Adding Ancient Appetites to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

I read Decline and Fall last year, and enjoyed it - I definitely second that recommendation. I have Scoop and Vile Bodies in the TBR.

Ancient Appetites sounds like fun; I might add that to the wishlist too.

I thought that I'd already read Decline and Fall, but when I read your review I realized I haven't - the book has just been sitting on the shelf, gathering dust. Well, at least I have another Waugh book to look forward to, and your review makes it sound like a lot of fun.

Ancient Appetites is definitely going on my list of Things To Read.

Sign me up for Tiny Deaths as well. Great review.

11) The Last Child by John Hart (2009)
crime fiction
This was recommended to me last year by my mother, but I had to wait several months on a library waitlist. This is a thrilling read with a lot of unexpected twists.
It has been a year since Johnny's twin sister was abducted. The family has gone downhill, unable to cope with the grief - his father has walked out and his mother is now addicted to drugs and alcohol to dull the pain. Johnny is obsessed with finding his sister. Hunt, the local detective, is also unable to leave the case alone. Then another girl goes missing.
Johnny is a great character - brave, resourceful and determined.
I'll definitely make time to read Hart's first two books sometime this year.

#11 looks like a good book. Onto the TBR mountain it goes. Thanks Kerry

To all those with Vile Bodies on their TBR piles - bump it up!

It's probably my favourite Evelyn Waugh novel (well, maybe jointly with Brideshead Revisited). Scoop is also extremely funny as is The Loved One... Oh and The Sword of Honour Trilogy too... I do find that reading too many books by him at once can end up being a bit depressing though - yes they're funny, but his outlook was so bleak - I completely overdosed while I was at school and it took me until 2008 to return to him!

Decline and Fall is one I have yet to read - looks like it's one that should come off the shelves this year...

Tiny Deaths sounds like one for the wishlist...

#70 *blushes* and here's an emoticon for you ;) - hope you all actually enjoy it now!

A bit late, but I'm also joining the crowd adding Ancient Appetites to the TBR list.

I am very interested in reading the Last Child. Each time I visit here, I come away with yet another book to read.

Thanks for the great recommendations.

>61 avatiakh: just added Season of Secrets to the pile, as well as Ways to live forever.

#80: I read Hart's Down River a couple years ago and enjoyed it, so I will add The Last Child to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

Hi Kerry, thanks for posting on my thread :-) I have been following yours too but I think I need to stop lurking and post more...

I haven't read any Evelyn Waugh but I think I should! Another stack of books for the pile!

Following the example of SoulOfTheRose, I too and popping up to say I'm considering Waugh as well.

#87 Re Evelyn Waugh - definitely you should! ;)

#64 Hi Kerry, I'm enjoying catching up on your reading and it's great to see an Oisin McGann title travel so far. The stories I could tell you about that man...! Let me know if you run out of Irish childlit/YA titles, I'm always ready to sell our little island of saints and scholars!

Thank goodness you're here, Kerry. I know now about things I'd never have known I didn't know about and now I have to know more!

I think....

Huh?

#91: Makes perfect sense to me. I know whereof you speak.

Wow - lots of visitors to my thread today.
90> Eimear - welcome to my thread, I've found yours over on the 100 book challenge and starred it.
I'm looking forward to reading more Oisin McGann books, I love it when illustrators end up writing books - Mal Peet, Philip Reeve, Colin Thompson etc etc. I'm delighted also to notice today that Ancient Appetites is part of a series and am making haste to get The Wisdom of Old Men.

91> Thank you Richard, you definitely have a way with your words!

Back in message #72 I think I was a bit too snarky about Miss Peta. She was on the cover of a recent magazine looking very sophisticated and much younger than 60, gone were the frills and the rose adornments. I read the article while having a flat white at a local cafe. She has a great outlook on life and a vibrant personality to go with it. Her books, well, I'll keep reading but just more slowly.



12) As the earth turns silver by Alison Wong (2009)
fiction, New Zealand, TIOLI & 1010 challenge

Continuing with my goal of reading more New Zealand fiction, I picked up this debut novel by poet Alison Wong last year. There have been some rave reviews, and so there is always the fear that the book won't live up to them. I read it now for squeakychu's TIOLI January challenge to read a debut novel.
After a shaky start, I was swept into the story and charmed by Wong's sensual language. Although the story lagged towards the end and the characters didn't do or go where I wanted, I found this to be a delightful dreamy read. Wong has included a lot of her research references in the acknowledgements along with a very long list of thanks to all who helped her. I always enjoy reading these.
Set in early 1900s Wellington the book follows the fortunes of two Chinese brothers facing racism and the restrictive laws of the time, including a Poll tax, which made it so hard in those times for the Chinese to bring their wives and children out of China. Younger brother,Yung, is keen to learn more about these gweilo, or white ghosts, the customers at their fruit shop. Katherine is also struggling in a marriage and then as a widow with children to support. She finds herself drawn to Yung even though it is scandalous for a white woman to consider any sort of social relationship with the Chinese. Wong also includes flashbacks to Yung's earlier life in China and his support from afar of the revolution in his homeland. Overall a recommended read.
I'm tempted to bump up another New Zealand debut novel that is set in China - Zhi Hong Mo's The Year of The Shanghai Shark, which was a finalist in last year's Commonwealth Writers Prize.

Kerry, great review. I already have this one on the TBR mountain and hope to get to it this year.

#94: Looks very good! I will look for it. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Kerry.

Kerry, that sounds great. My in-laws are Chinese and my husband is hopeless at knowing his family history - some of his rellies were very early immigrants to Australia. I'm adding this one to my wishlist now.

Sounds great - onto the wishlist it goes!

I'm also adding it to my wish list.

Yay, glad to hear you (generally) enjoyed it. It's on my “must get” list. Unfortunately catching up on your posts has adding another swathe to the the “must get” list … anyone know where I can find an alternate universe to duck into so I can do all the reading?

#100: You could always come over to my BlackHole :)

13) Kes by Barry Hines (1968)
young adult fiction, 1010 challenge

First published as Kestrel for a Knave. I've been wanting to read this since David Hill mentioned it as a memorable class read aloud at a seminar a couple of years ago.
This is a poignant look at working class life in a grim mining town. There isn't any future here, and for Billy Casper, in his last year at school, not much of a present either. Bullied at home and at school, Billy survives each day best he can - he's tough, resourceful. He's sure about two things - he'll never work in the mines, and he has a special touch with animals. For the past year his life has revolved round his kestrel, Kes, and he spends every spare minute training the bird.
Inevitably sad, but well worth reading I have to mention the two teachers - Mr Farthing, who begins to realise how remarkable Billy's achievement with the kestrel is, and Mr Sugden the sports teacher, the meanest bully of them all. When Billy has to write a tall story the result just pulls your heartstrings.
edit: This is my first read for my 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up category in my 1010 challenge.

100> joanna - One of the dilemmas of LT groups is the swelling of the tbr lists. It's great fun though. I don't read much poetry but I'm going to take a peek at Alison Wong's work.

97> cmt - what I liked most was how the story unfolded mainly from the perspective of Yung, who had had a good education in China before coming to Wellington. So your husband's family would have come during the gold rushes?

#102: That one looks very good! I will have to see if I can locate a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

I love the sound of the Alison Wong book, don't know if it will be available over here though. My mum's parents were from New Zealand and my mum works in Chinese studies.

#102 I've been meaning to read A Kestrel for a Knave for absolutely ages - I shall have to borrow it from my parents next time I'm there. Did you know that there's an extremely good Ken Loach film version of it? (Jarvis Cocker cites it as his favourite film ;))

105> elkiedee - welcome to my thread. FlossieT mentioned back in #17 that it's coming out in the UK later this year. The Chinese community was viewed very differently back then, but it was also the legislation that was shocking. Wong's paternal grandfather was brutally murdered in Wellington in 1914 and the crime never solved, so she had many reasons to write this book.
I saw on your profile that you are reading Dream Babies: Childcare Advice from John Locke to Gina Ford which sounds really interesting. Is it aimed at new parents or would it be a good read for anyone?

106> Seeing it in 1001 Childrens Books YMRBYGU made it a priority read for January. I'm pretty sure my library has the movie and I'm definitely keen to see it.

I'm putting Jasper Jones aside for a couple of days to read something fun. Everything I've read lately has been tinged with either bullying, racism or death and JJ has all these elements in the first two chapters. So I'm going with The Reformed Vampire Support Group for my weekend read.

107> Dream Babies is fascinating - it's a history of parenting books, so it's probably more interesting for people who've been there, tried that, discarded that theory etc than to a brand new parent, though new parents could do with the warning. It's about changing fashions in parenting advice. I heard about it on a parenting website called mumsnet. Let's just say that a lot of the controversies today are not at all new!

I've sent in a purchase request to my library. I'd love to read it, my youngest is already turning 13 so I'm well out of the family bed/Dr Spock etc zone.
A really good read if you want to go into more detail is Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love by Robert Karen.
edit: fix touchstone

14) The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (2009)
young adult fiction, australia, 1010 challenge

This was a fun read to fit inbetween a few novels that I've been reading lately that deal with difficult issues of death, abuse, racism. You can rely on Jinks to give you an entertaining read and the bunch of vampires in this story are an oddball lot.
Nina has been a vampire since 1973, at fifteen, she's a permanent teenager. She lives with her now elderly mum and attends the weekly Reformed Vampire Support Group run by the pastor of a local church. The group survive on guinea pig blood and are all fairly reclusive. When one in their group is slain they realise that they must track down the killer before the killer strikes again. They just don't know the adventure they are about to embark on.



15) The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (1983)
audio book, fantasy, UK, 1010 challenge

Finally I've managed to finish my first Terry Pratchett. I listened to this on audiobook as I'd failed to get into the book on previous occasions. I'm not that good at listening to books so this took a few attempts as well. The narrator was excellent and the story was a lot of fun. I'm definitely going to read more of these.


16) Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (2009)
fiction, australia, 1010 challenge

This is Silvey's second book and will be one of my top reads for the year. I loved every inch of it. Silvey is able to evoke a setting and write characters wonderfully. Here we are at the end of 1965 in a small Western Australian town. The plot revolves around the disappearance of a teen girl and Charlie Bucktin has a secret he must keep, he's given his word. Charlie, 13, is awkward, bookish, has a crush on Eliza, a strict unhappy mother and a solitary father. When Jasper Jones, the town's outcast youth knocks on his sleepout window one hot night Charlie is ready to help.

Charlie's best friend is Jeffrey Lu and his family are Vietnamese immigrants. Jeffrey just wants to be given a chance to play cricket but Australia is sending troops to Vietnam, young men have been conscripted from Corrigan, even died over there. The Lu family is an easy target for the anger.
Jasper Jones sits on the edge of the novel, he's almost an enigma, and he's right about one thing. if something goes wrong in the town, he'll cop the blame. He's part aborigine, his mother is long dead and his Dad is a drunk. He's also star of the football team, but this doesn't earn him any off-field respect.
Silvey captures Charlie's predicament - his clumsy conversations with Eliza, his relationship with his parents, his inability to help against racism, bigotry. He's too young to make a difference, he can only observe and write about it. Plus he's squirming on this terrible secret, he can't eat, he can't sleep.
I read this book slowly and savoured every sentence.

Kerry, thanks for the heads-up on Jinks! I'll be reading that one, it looks hilarious.

No Pratchett fan, me.

And coming-of-age books aren't my favorite genre. I'm on the fence about this, your description of savoring every sentence makes it quite tempting...*wavers*

Richard - try Silvey's Rhubarb which was his debut novel, I read it in December and found it totally refreshing.
Here's Silvey writing about writing: http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=647

Ah! Rhubarb sounds like something I'd enjoy, so I've wishlisted it. I thought "Fremantle" was a made-up name, now it turns out to be a *real* place...?

Thanks for the link, too! I had no idea Allen and Unwin had such an extensive site. Their US distributor is laconic, verging on uninformative, about the titles imported here, so it's good to know where to go to get the real skinny.

This sounds like another good Silvey read. I have to look out for this one. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry

#110: I already have The Reformed Vampire Support Group in the BlackHole (I really liked Jinks' Pagan series), but I am adding Jasper Jones there as well.

I have The Colour of Magic home from the library now to read. I hope I enjoy it.

The Wong book sounds intriguing. I am heading back to NZ in February, so will keep an eye out for the book while there!

I am sorry to realize that I will miss the Writer's Festival in Wellington this year - didn't time the trip right.

Oh yes. it's a good lineup. Neil Gaiman, Margo Lanagan, Sarah Waters, Audrey Niffennegger etc etc. I'd love to go as well, but will have to make do with the Auckland Festival in May. I did look at the cost of flying down for a couple of days.

Was looking forward to the Jasper Jones review! Thanks :)

petermc - several articles compare Craig Silvey to Tim Winton, who also lives in Fremantle. I haven't read any of his books but I can see a focus on Australian fiction coming up in my near future.

.....aaaaaaaaand onto the pile it goes!

LOL, you and I are on the same wavelength! I just finshed The Colour of Magic too, and thought it was pretty funny.

Along the Enchanted Way a Romanian Story by William Blacker (2009)
nonfiction

I didn't finish this, though I skimmed through the rest of the book. Blacker writes about his time living in rural northern Romania, in the Maramures, from 1996 through 2004. He first visits Romania in early 1990 spurred by the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and keen to see the long lost peasant life of times past. Returning in 1996 to live as a peasant he writes about the simple life of the people, the longstanding feuds between the Romanians and the gypsies in which he himself becomes embroiled and slowly the changes as modern life seeps into these remote villages.
It was interesting to learn of the Saxon families, living separately from their Romanian neighbours for the past eight hundred years and how in 1990 they are considering for the first time returning to Germany.
I had to return the book to the library and wasn't that taken with his story about scything fields and infatuation with the gypsy way of life etc to keep reading it. The later parts of the book looked more interesting with feuds, legal action and visits to the police becoming a constant in his life.

I managed to finish my Orange January read in time - Fugitive Pieces whew!

17) Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (1996)
fiction
This was my pick for Orange January and I almost ran out of time to read it. It is a hauntingly lyrical study of loss, grief and love. Michaels takes you into the very souls of her characters so that time and place almost seem secondary and yet she anchors the novel firmly in the natural world by exposing us to the physical aspects of the planet through ice, rocks, snow, wood, mud, floods, hurricanes encountered through books and in memories.
Jakob Beer is just seven when he is rescued from the Polish mud during the Holocaust by Athos, a geologist who smuggles him into Greece. Together they live on a remote island, where Athos educates young Beer. After the war they move to Toronto. Jakob spends much of his life dwelling on the loss of his family and the unknown fate of his beloved older sister Bella before finding love with Michaela. The second part of the book is about Ben, who meets the older Jakob and is moved by his poetry to finally understand his parents, Holocaust survivors.

It is a beautiful piece of writing and the characters create enough interest to stay with you. The plot is very much in the background, Jakob's story fades away as Ben's story takes over.
I was very taken with Michael's ability to bring so much of our world into the book.

I have Fugitive Pieces on my TBR pile, it sounds really good. Thanks for the review!

I'm adding Fugitive Pieces to the pile. Maybe I'll get to it for Orange July:)

Nice review, Kerry. On to the wish list it goes.

January roundup - 17 books read - 11 count towards my 1010 challenge as well as 1x Orange January / 1x TIOLI challenge book / 1x group read / 1x short story collection

1x New Zealand fiction
1x Australian fiction
1x translated fiction
6x young adult/children's fiction
0x nonfiction but 2x abandoned nonfiction

Don't like doing book of the month too much but here it goes to - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, mostly because he's a great new talent.

Sorry about the abandoned nonfiction, but that is a sour note in an otherwise very good month. Congratulations, Kerry.

#125,126,127 I hope you all enjoy Fugitive Pieces when you get to it.

#129 Stasia - I'll keep slogging away at one of those nonfictions, but not right now. My next nonfiction will be carefully chosen.

I just discovered a website hubpages when looking for some info on a book. One of the members has written a few interesting insights on famous first sentences that are worth reading if you are into that sort of thing. http://hubpages.com/hub/Famous-First-Sentences-One-Hundred-Years-of-Solitude

Just saw on Squeaky's thread that you're reading Dreamers of
the Day - how are you liking it? I was a bit disappointed, but that was after
A Thread of Grace, which I loved.

Jasper Jones sounds good. I've seen it popping up everywhere on here (or maybe before I left NZ?) but your review is the first that's made me stop and look!

>131 cushlareads: Me too. How are you liking it. I've got The Sparrow sitting on my shelf and hopefully will get to it this year; loved A Thread of Grace.

*Sigh*

I've just found you and now I've added at least eight books onto my wishlist.

I wish people would stop reading good books!

#131, 132 I'm enjoying Dreamers of the Day so far, it's proving a good follow on from the heavier Fugitive Pieces. I was meaning to read A Thread of Grace first which is also on my shelf but got the titles mixed up.
The Sparrow is very good IMHO.
Cynthia - I'm keen to post on your thread but you have only read economics books so far, and I'm trying to avoid posting just for the sake of it as this group is so prolific!
I first saw Jasper Jones reviewed by Graham Beattie, and he wrote a stellar review for it, I knew of Silvey's first book Rhubarb but hadn't read it then. Both are well worth a look, though harder to come across in Basel I would say.
#133 - Hi Jenny - I think that at least half my reads for this year will come from LT recommendations from last year's group!

Personally, I'll be DEAD before I get through all the LT-inspired reading I've got booked in already! But isn't that what this place is about, after all is said and done?

#135: Decidedly!

I'm sitting pretty today - I just bought (A Summer Season of International Women Authors) tickets for Andrea Levy, Sarah Waters, Xinran, Elizabeth Kostova, Marina Lewycka, Sarah Dunant from late Feb thru' March. I'm also going to an evening with Patrick Ness in March.
Now I'll have to start reading some books - I haven't read anything by Andrea Levy, Xinran, Sarah Waters or Sarah Dunant yet, but they've all been on my 'must read' list for ages. And still to come is the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival in May.
We've also booked a holiday so I've got that to look forward to in April.

Fantastic! (and to the holiday booking).

I can't remember if I said, but I really loved Small Island. I have Every Light in the House Burnin' of hers, too, and don't know why I haven't read it yet. I think it's the sequel, or at least has the same characters. Is that part of the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival of something else?

Sarah Waters is here for Wellington's New Zealand International Arts Festival which also has Neil Gaiman & Audrey Niffennegger. A Summer Season of International Women Authors is organised by The Women's Bookshop which is a great independent bookstore here in Auckland run by Carole Beu.
The Auckland Readers and Writers Festival is separate, but Carole is on the board for that as well.

My reading plans have to change to allow for this sudden abundance of writers' talks and also I have to line up a few books to prepare for the trip as we are going back to Buenos Aires and this time are including a week in Rio. I'm going to read The Ministry of Special Cases and I'll read City of God after my trip. Just hunting for a few more Brazilian titles - I have a copy of Nelida Pinon's The Republic of Dreams, just have to find it.
edit: touchstones

I loev that bookshop! I've only been there a couple of times on Auckland holidays, but it is excellent.

The holiday sounds great - I haven't been to South American and haven't read a single book set there either (I just realised that now... yikes, that is terrible!)

Yes, looking forward to the holiday, we spent 2 weeks in Buenos Aires last year and can't wait to get back there. Haven't been to Rio for 21 years so looking forward to that as well.
I've read a few books set in Latin America, among my favourites are Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene and Love in the time of Cholera.
How is Basel, all I remember is the tramcars advertising the zoo - so colourful.

You are going to *love* The Ministry of Special Cases. It's such an excellent book. Have a wonderful trip, Kerry!

Oooooh, lots of lovely talks to go to - not to mention Buenos Aires - very jealous!

For something by Xinran, I recommend The Good Women of China--fascinating non-fiction.
I also have The Ministry of Special Cases on my shelf, so I'll be interested to see what you think.

So annoyed that I am missing out on the Writer's Festival - I am in NZ for the middle 2 weeks of February!

Still have to read Fugitive Pieces - a Canadian author I should have read. Thanks for the excellent review.

I'd like to go to Buenos Aires some day. Some friends went there last year and had a wonderful time. At least I know I'm going to Sao Paolo and Rio in May, but mainly for work, although I will at least have the weekend to play. Have a marvellous holiday, Kerry

18) Coming Up Roses by Sarah Laing (2007)
short stories, new zealand, 1010 challenge

I picked this up off my shelves for the February TIOLI challenge as it has a red spine. It is an unusual cover for a book published in New Zealand and the book design was done by Laing who has a graphic design business as well as being a writer. Laing is an American by birth but lives in New Zealand.
This is a debut collection of contemporary short stories mostly about individuals in relationships that aren't turning out how they imagined they would. In Bird Song we have Lauren attending the wedding of her brother-in-law to a Russian woman that she doesn't approve of and yet finds that Vasilisa has been more immediately accepted into the family. Stepping on Cracks takes us back to the school playground and the issue of best friends. Afterbirth covers the territory of bonding with a newborn. Some stories are set in New York, where Laing worked for a time.
I enjoyed reading the collection, most stories worked for me. I read a couple of reviews before I began and one was very positive and the other scathing which picked up on a Star Wars reference attributed to the wrong movie - I must admit that mistakes like this clang for me as well. (Luke finds out who his father is in The Empire Strikes Back not Return of the Jedi).
I liked it enough that I will try her first novel Dead People's Music which was published last year.

Kerry, that's a cool cover! I bet money it'd never fly in the US market, which values "slick" more than interesting.

I agree about the cover. That seems like a book I'd enjoy. Wishlisted it!

I like the cover, too!

I love the cover. Very cool. Sounds like a cute book too ... off to the wish list it goes.

The Alison Wong book is coming out next month here. Maybe one of my libraries will buy a copy.

19) Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell (2008)
fiction
I mostly liked this novel, didn't love love love it. It's about an American spinster, Agnes, who takes a daring (for her) trip to Egypt in 1921 and travels on to Palestine and Lebanon to visit the places her late sister wrote about when living in Lebanon with her missionary husband.

Through chance she mingles with the Cairo Peace Conference participants including Getrude Bell, Churchill, TE Lawrence and also makes friends with a Jewish German intelligence officer, Karl. It's all a big adventure and Agnes embraces her chance at a happy new life after many years spent under the stern gaze of her domineering mother. Agnes along with her daschund, Rosie were captivating characters both falling for the charms of the German 'spy'. I did not care for the last chapter, it's an unnecessary epilogue.

What I did like was how Russell humanised these political greats. Her research was thorough and she sought out essays and memoirs that were written by personal friends of Lawrence and Churchill rather than political biographies. Russell discusses in her acknowledgements the most useful sources used in her research and which real life people some of her fictional characters were based on such as Karl who was based loosely on real life Max von Oppenheim.

edit: I still have Russell's A Thread of Grace to read which is also historical fiction.

#158: I mostly liked this novel, didn't love love love it.

I felt exactly the same way about that one.

20) The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald (1995)
fiction

"Reading a Penelope Fitzgerald novel," observed Sebastian Faulks, "is like being taken for a ride in a peculiar kind of car. Everything is of top quality - the engine, the coachwork and the interior all fill you with confidence. Then, after a mile or so, someone throws the steering-wheel out of the window."

From wikipedia: The Blue Flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of Romanticism. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable.German author Novalis first used the symbol in his unfinished novel of formation, entitled Heinrich von Ofterdingen. After contemplating a meeting with a stranger, the young Heinrich von Ofterdingen dreams about blue flowers which call to him and absorb his attention. (The Japanese translation of the novel was entitled Aoi Hana (青い花), literally "blue flower", emphasizing the motif.)

Penelope Fitzgerald's first novel was published in 1977, when she was already 60, this was her ninth and last novel. The Blue Flower is set in late eighteenth century Saxony, Germany and concerns the early German Romanticist Friedrich von Hardenburg (1772-1801) a writer/poet/philosopher who later wrote under the name Novalis.

Fitzgerald is a magnificent writer, capturing the position of the local nobility who have fallen on hard times and are yet still confined by their class in ways to earn their living. Fritz, just finished with his university studies, is following his father into the world of salt mining management, when he falls in love with a young 12 year old girl. He is devoted to young Sophie, even though she is too young and not quite in his social class. The novel follows not just Fritz's honest and romantic love for Sophie but also the reaction of family and friends as Fritz waits for Sophie to regain her health and reach a suitable age for marriage.

I thought this was an outstanding read. Rather than going for long winded descriptions of the setting, Fitzgerald lets you slowly soak up the world from modest exchanges between the various characters until you feel right there with them. The novel starts with a delightful scene, the arrival of one of Fritz's University friends to the Hardenburg family home on the annual wash day, with piles of laundry in the courtyard. No visions of grandeur possible here.

I had started Fitzgerald's A House of Air late last year which is a collection of her essays, reviews and other writings and will be returning to dip into it again this year.

I really liked The Blue Flower too. I just wish my local library had more of Fitzgerald's books!

#155

Nice review. I like the sound of it a lot :)

That opening scene in Blue Flower was terrific. It's what I think of first whenever someone mentions the book--or even when somebody talks about beginnings. I might have liked the beginning all the more, though, because I didn't like the book so much towards the end.

21) The old man who read love stories by Luis Sepulveda (1989)
fiction, Chile, Reading Globally Rainforest challenge

Luis Sepulveda is a Chilean writer, and this book is set in the Amazon rainforest in south east Ecuador.
This is a wonderful short novel that tackles the theme of ecology, showing how men who try to plunder the riches of the forest can be consumed by it. Antonio, who lives apart from others in his village on the banks of an Amazonian tributary, has lived many years with the native Shuari Indians and knows the ways of the rainforest and its inhabitants. He reminisces on his youthful love for his wife and since he discovered he could read has had a passion for reading tragic love stories.
He has little patience for the gradual influx of gringos - gold prospectors, hunters, settlers, & tourists who have no respect or understanding of the world of the jungle. When a female ocelot goes on a manhunting rampage upriver, Antonio's wisdom and ability as a tracker is needed before more fall victim to the ocelot's campaign of revenge for the killing of her cubs and mate.
Sepulveda highlights the natural beauty and harshness of the jungle, the ability of the natives to live in harmony with it and modern man's ruthless intrusion.

22) Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)
fiction, Nigeria, 1010challenge, TIOLI Book Nudge

Finally got round to reading this novel, after many months on my tbr stack - thanks to the TIOLI challenge I set up for myself.
This is a classic story set in Nigeria about the coming of the white man to the small villages of the Igbo tribe in rural Nigeria in the 1890s. The richness of the tribal culture and their spiritual world is shown through the life of Okonkwo, a strong aggressive male, who experiences both the highs and lows of living in accordance to the tribal protocols. Once the first white missionaries arrive it seems only a few months before change becomes inevitable - age old tribal customs begin to crumble....
An excellent read, the only other Nigerian novel I can remember reading -The Famished Road has a more modern setting but also brings the spiritual world alive. What distressed me most in Things Fall Apart was how after delving into the harsh but rich world of the natives through Okonkwo that the arrival of the white man disrupted and killed off the native way of life so quickly. Very sad.

Very good reviews Kerrie. I hope to get to Things Fall Apart this year as well. I've really enjoyed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's two novels Half of a Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus which take place in Nigeria, but much more recently than Achebe's book.

#158, bonniebooks - I agree, this was an opening scene to remember. The story was ultimately tragic with so much poverty and death but I loved it all the same.

#160, brenzi - Things Fall Apart is definitely worth putting on the top of your tbr. Most of the story is concerning the tribal life before the white man, a very strict lifestyle, spiritual and based on traditions going back hundreds of years. I really enjoyed it, Okonkwo is not always a sympathetic character, but he does live completely in adherence to his tribe's traditions.
I've read Adichie's The thing around your neck and still have her other two on my tbr. I don't read many books set in Africa but have really appreciated each one I've read.

Things Fall Apart is definitely worth putting on the top of your tbr.

Seconded. It was a book I enjoyed and found very powerful, despite the fact that I didn't like the main character and found it hard to sympathise with him - which I think is always a sign of an excellent book.

Things Fall Apart is definitely worth putting on the top of your tbr.

...already on my "to-read-this-year" list - although I wish I didn't know what happens in the end in advance (someone gave it away in a review somewhere - pah!)

I've read Things Fall Apart twice and loved it both times and don't remember what happens in the end, so don't think that really matters. It's really not that kind of book.

Things Fall Apart is on my wishlist, I need to get a copy out of the library. Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun are on my TBR pile. Lots of African fiction to get through!

I loved Adichie's books and I also read Achebe's new collection of essays The Education of a British-Protected Child recently. That's made me want to read Things Fall Apart. I discovered an earlier collection of Achebe's essays in the library this afternoon (I work in a building with a public library branch on the ground floor) which I plan to borrow some time, if I ever manage to read and return some of my library books - I've been maxed out for a few weeks on that library card, and I returned one book and borrowed something else.

#164 good to know!

Another Nigerian book I loved was The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta. Since you have the same number of kids as me (I think), you might like this too, Kerri. (Just kidding--It's a good book regardless of whether you have kids, and the title is ironic).

#168, 166: OK - now I have lots of follow up reading. Thanks.

23) Grimpow: the invisible road by Rafael Abalos (2005)
young adult fiction, 1010 challenge

I struggled with this one a bit as it moved slowly and yet the story was quite intriguing, set in Medieval France and involving a mystery around the Templar Knights. The main protaganist, Grimpow, is an interesting character, a boy who takes possession of a stone that seems to have magical properties. I didn't like the constant summing up of the plot and the throwaway lines that hinted of what was to come. The writing didn't linger where I wanted it to.

I read this because it is one of the few children's books from Spain that I've come across and it is in the 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up, which is one of my categories in my 1010 challenge. It was the debut novel of a Spanish lawyer.

24) The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972)
fiction, Finland, 1010 challenge

This was Jansson's first adult book and is a total joy to read. A celebration of the natural world and living a simple life on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. It is a reflection of Jansson's later life and the plot centres on an ailing grandmother and her young granddaughter, Sophia, who has come to spend the summer on the island after the recent loss of her mother.
My 2003 edition has an introduction by Esther Freud who writes of her visit to Jansson's island home and her first impression is the size of the island - 4 1/2 minutes to walk around it!
The Summer Book is also listed in 1001 children's books you must read before you grow up.

wiki: Tove Jansson 1914 – 2001 was an Swedish-speaking Finnish novelist, painter, honorary Professor of Philosophy, illustrator, and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books.

#169 The Summer Book sounds really good and I really like Jansson's Moomin books so I will look out for that one. Thanks!

I think I will pass on Grimpow for now. I already have The Summer Book in the BlackHole and really wish I could get my hands on a copy!

#170,171 - I ended up getting The Summer Book from the book depository last year after looking for it for a while. I knew it would be a keeper from reading the other LT reviews so didn't mind.
I didn't mention the relationship between the grandmother who is quite brusque and the granddaughter - it is quite enchanting, the grandmother does not intrude on the little girl but their relationship becomes strong in spite of this. They have little adventures together and with the girl's father who is there with them but very much in the background.

Arrggghh. I thought I was going to get away without adding to the pile but no, all this talk about The Summer Book has lead me to succumb to its charms.

25) Address Unknown by Kressmann Taylor (1938)
fiction
Written just before the start of World War II in an attempt to make Americans more aware of how dangerous a place Germany had become under Hitler and his Nazi Party. This short story is written as a series of brief letters between a Jewish American and his business partner who has returned to live in Munich in 1933. Taylor was inspired to write it based on the changed outlook of German friends who returned to the States after a short time living back in Germany. "I wanted to write about what the Nazis were doing and show the American public what happens to real, living people swept up in a warped ideology"
"This modern story is perfection itself. It is the most effective indictment of Nazism to appear in fiction." - The New York Times Book Review.

#174: I will have to look for that. It looks terrific. Thanks for the recommendation, Kerry.

That sounds excellent. I'll chuck it on the wishlist now.

On the topic of Nazism, I'm in the middle of The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn - have you read it or even heard of it? I want to talk to someone about it!! I had one of those "why have I never seen this book before?" moments at the weekend. It might be because I stopped buying new books last year, but I still used to hang out in Unity and Parsons enough that I'd have noticed it!

I saw Things Fall Apart in the same bookshop but was running out of space in my 2 puny bags, and figured it is probably in the library here. There's an interesting article about the Penguin African Writing series on the Guardian books blog - Achebe is editing the series. The author's complaining that there are no modern African stories, only older ones, and she may have a point - but I haven't even read the classics yet so it sounds like a good series for me.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/feb/16/africa-writers-series-peng...

The Taylor book fits in nicely with my recent read about Anne Frank by Francine Prose and defo goes on the TBR pile. Thanks for the interesting comments.

Address Unknown is well worth looking out for, it takes only a few minutes to read but is chilling, and I'm sure must have really shaken people back in 1938.
I came across this BBC radio dramatization of it which is available for the next 7 days only.

#176 - Cushla - I think I've seen that Daniel Mendelsohn book at Borders the last few times I've been in. I have so many books on the holocaust that I haven't read that I didn't pick it up. Now you have me intrigued - is it really good?

That article on the Penguin African writing was interesting, I'm behind on the classics as well. I think that the Africa region shortlist section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize is a good place to find new writers. The 2010 shortlist has just been announced.

Kerry - thanks so much for providing that BBC link. I just finished listening to it and it was very moving.

I don't get access to the BBC iplayer in Canada, so am pleased to have heard it while here in NZ.

Kerrie, thanks for the link to the BBC dramatization but I'm watching the Olympics now so I'll listen tomorrow. Address Unknown sounds so good.

#179 Yes, I'm loving The Lost, but it has its idiosyncrasies. First, his sentences are looooooooooooooooooong. Like half a page long, on average. You have to be in the right mood for his stream of consciousness style.

It's as much about him and his family today, and how and why he wanted to find out what happened, as about what did happen to the great-uncle and his family who were killed in the Holocaust. I'm 150 pages in, and every few pages there's a chunk of analysis from Rashi and a modern rabbi (Richard Friedman?) of Genesis. As an ex-Catholic I am ashamed of my pathetic knowledge of the bible, let alone of any detailed textual analysis! It's really fascinating, and thought provoking - e.g. he talks about Auschwitz, and why he doesn't want to go there. And it's all over the place, but in a deliberate way. I haven't got into the gut-wrenching details of how they died though.

Sorry for threadjacking!

Cushla--I'm just at the beginning of The Lost, about 20 pp in. I'm reading it rather slowly, interspersed among other books, so I am sure you will finish it way before I do, but when I finish, we can talk about it.

26) Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (1943) (2006 translation)
fiction
I put this on my wishlist last year after kiwidoc reviewed it. Since then there has been quite a lot of LT talk and I must add my praise for this compelling novella. Full of tension, interest and to the point of horror almost, this is one great read.

I still haven't read any Stefan Zweig, but I will one day soon. I think that one is in the Basel library in English.

#183 Deborah, that would be great!

182,183> I'm putting The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million on my wishlist and awaiting both your reviews.

185> You will enjoy the Zweig and it is a quick read. I'm right into A pigeon and a boy at present and enjoying it immensely, I love that tragic feel of impending doom that accompanies the story. Like squeakychu I'm enjoying the setting - very familiar and I get a buzz out of discussing the old Tel Aviv Zoo with my husband - it moved out of the city around the time I was living there.

I'm happy to mooch or just forward my copies of Chess Story and/or The old man who read love stories as they are both novellas and won't cost much to send. Just send me a PM if you want them.

I'm so excited you're reading A Pigeon and a Boy. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about it afterward. I always feel so thrilled to get a Meir Shalev book in my hands although there were things about this particular story that upset me. More later when you've finished reading it... :)

ETA: Don't you love the cover art of A Pigeon and a Boy? I so much wanted to crawl over that wall and run down into the valley. *Sigh*

27) A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev (2006)
fiction, Israel, 1010 challenge

I've been wanting to read this one for a while and have not been disappointed. Beautifully written and full of delightful detail, the story is set both in the past years of the 40s and the 50s and present day Israel. Shalev avoids political comment, rather gathers the threads of his story around the Palmach and then Haganah's use of homing pigeons to communicate from the frontline of combat. The pigeon's unerring ability to find home is revisited in the present day narrator, Yair, whose awkward marriage leads him to search for a home of his own. Alongside his story is a slowly unfolding tale of love from the past, between a boy called Baby and The Girl. There is a touch of magical realism towards the end of the book which blends fairly well into the narrative.
I enjoyed learning about the homing pigeon and the discipline of the pigeon handlers and I especially liked Shalev's descriptions of Tel Aviv streets, the bird life of Israel, and contrasts of day and night. It all added up to a totally satisfying read.

#188> I'm not sure which aspects of the story upset you. I thought the love story was beautifully tragic and sad, which is how I love my love stories. I loved Shalev's ability to bring out the natural beauty of the country with his descriptions of vistas and walking at different times of day or night - the sights, smells and sounds. That cover is so good - one of the reasons I wanted to read the book - my paperback cover is less glamorous. The Hebrew edition was all over the bookshops in Tel Aviv when I was there a couple of years ago - so I've had it down to read for a while.
I will be looking out for more of his work - I haven't read widely in Israeli fiction, these next couple of years I want to read much more. I've collected a few novels and have an Israeli category in my 1010 challenge.

Anyway my next focus has to be on Argentina and Brasil and also the Summer Season of International Women Writers that I'm going to see over the next few weeks. Tomorrow night I have my first outing, an evening with Marina Lewycka.

#189: I already have that one in the BlackHole, so I do not need to add it again.

I am with Madeline about the cover art - it really is pretty.

Thank you for that review of A Pigeon and a Boy which is now on my pile Kerrie.

I will join the others, putting A Pigeon and a Boy onto the TBR mountain. Looks like a good read.

28 Emergency Sex: and other desperate measures by Ken Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thompson (2004)
A True Story from Hell on Earth
nonfiction

The UN tried to stop publication of this book as it is critical of the UN's efforts in Rwanda, Bosnia. Haiti, Somalia and Liberia. This book tells of what it's like to be part of the UN peacekeeping corps in the war zones around the world. It is brutal in its honesty and quite harsh in its judgement of UN and sometimes US decisions.
And who can blame them for their views - Thompson, a doctor, headed the team that excavated bodies and documented forensic evidence for the war crimes in both Rwanda and Bosnia. He also reported on torture victims in Haiti and spent several years in Cambodia. He had to burn all his reports before the UN evacuation of Haiti in October 1990 to protect witnesses from retribution by the macoutes.
Cain, a fresh young idealistic lawyer went to Cambodia to assist with the UN-assisted election, then to Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti and Liberia. Heidi, a secretary was in Cambodia, Somalia, and Haiti. The book covers their work in the field from 1990 to 1998.
After just a month-in-country I'm already enraged, not by work, but by being unable to work. My patients are all either headless and rotting or alive and rotting, out of reach behind prison walls. I became so enamoured with peacekeeping that I never stopped to consider what might happen if there was no peace to keep, if a country, and a mission, were at the mercy of malevolent men. Thompson in Haiti, 1990
Everyone is looking at me like I'm in charge, I've never been in an African prison before in wartime. I've never been in Africa before. Or in a war. Major Foot came here in a uniform with an American flag on it, with a weapon and a sergeant who reminded him to eat. I'm in khakis and a golf shirt and alone Cain in Somalia, 1990
I found aspects of this book hard to read due to the graphic descriptions of Thompson's work and the constant brutality that goes on during war. The section on Mogadishu was excellent and covered the time just before the US withdrawal. There is an afterward in this edition - where similar questions asked by readers are answered and here they explain their choice of title in more depth. Thompson lost his UN job when they went ahead with the book but was reinstated after an outcry and media interest. Suppression of freedom of expression by an organisation created to protect such freedom is a hypocrisy too rich even for the UN.
Overall an interesting read and it has me interested in learning more about these conflicts.

I didn't know that the UN had tried to stop publication of this! It's a very good book about the obstacles confronting idealists when they confront ugly realities. I'm thinking about writing a book about effective philanthropy -- which can only happen when it starts from a point of pragmatism, not this kind of idealism -- and have been dipping back into it. If you're looking for more to read on these issues, I'd recommend Deliver Us from Evil by William Shawcross. Now a bit dated, but the sad thing is that while the specifics have changed, the core issues really haven't. A friend of mine, Elizabeth Neuffer, wrote The Key to My Neighbor's House, about the efforts to provide justice in Rwanda and Bosnia. It was published a year or two before she was killed in Iraq.

#194/195: I am adding all the titles to the BlackHole. I hope I can get hold of them. Thanks for the recommendations, ladies.

#195/196 - I was pleased to find out about Emergency Sex, I read on a blog that it's currently being adapted to a TV film or series and I thought it might be an interesting read. The two men were very idealistic and ended up quite disillusioned. I'll follow up your suggestions, these issues don't date and both books look to be very good.

#197: If you are interested in reading more about Rwanda, I would recommend both An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina and We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch. Both of these books are excellent, IMHO.

That's insane that the UN tried to stop it from being published. It's not like there aren't plenty of more 'academic' works out there critiquing the way the UN work - did they try and stop them all too? Or was it just that this one was more vivid and accessible?

#199 - I think it was because two of the writers were employed at the UN in New York at the time of writing. There is some discussion of it in the afterward and also online if you search for it.

#198 - Stasia - those two books are available here, so I'll be getting them. Just have to squeeze some extra hours into my day for reading.

#200: Just have to squeeze some extra hours into my day for reading.

The secret is in not sleeping much. Works for me. The only other alternative I could come up with was moving to Venus and it is a little too toasty there.

I have to go back a long way here... sorry.

>94 avatiakh: glad to hear such good things of Alison Wong. I've got the proof of Picador's UK edition on the shelf at the moment, and it'll be high up the list. Actually, I can also think of someone I know who might well enjoy it even more (a Chinese-English actor who kept me company at a book event yesterday, and who's really interested in Asian writers).

>105 elkiedee:/107 elkiedee/Luci, Picador are publishing it in the UK - the proof's upstairs or I'd check the date, but I think it's quite soon (ah - now got down to 152 and see you've found this out!). (Also: I HAVE to find your thread now, that Christina Hardyment has been on my wishlist for years and years and years.)

>110 avatiakh: Went to put Jasper Jones on the wishlist and discovered there's a UK edition due from Windmill Books this year! You recommended it to me late last year too, I think, when I was on a bit of an antipodean reading kick... or maybe it was petermc?

>124 avatiakh: I was heartbroken when Jakob dropped out of the story in Fugitive Pieces, even though you knew it was coming from the very first page. Ben made a very poor substitute for me. Michaels does a similar sort of thing in The Winter Vault, in that the dynamic between the characters is totally changed. I felt a terrible sense of bereavement, reading both books. Although I suppose that's partly the point.

>147 avatiakh: I think Sarah Laing must have been mentioned in an NZ Book Council newsletter or something recently, as I've definitely visited her website. I like the sound of the novel, not sure about the short stories... great jacket though.

>155 avatiakh: that Sebastian Faulks quote on Penelope Fitzgerald is marvellous. I am almost tempted to revise my opinion of the man. Almost.

>168 arubabookwoman: arubabookwoman, I've a feeling that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recommends Buchi Emechta in the 'reading group notes' for Purple Hibiscus - better add that one to the wishlist too....

Phew. Sorry for that long post. It's been a while...

#202 - Rachael - great to catch up again. Your Chinese-English friend might enjoy Mo Zhi Hong's The Year of the Shanghai Shark which was on the shortlist for last year's Commonwealth Writers Prize for a debut novel. He grew up in New Zealand and spent a couple of years in China teaching which inspired his novel. I still have it on my tbr pile and it's been there almost a year now.

Regarding Fugitive Pieces, I also missed Jacob when he dropped from the story yet the novel wouldn't have had the same almost spiritual feel if she had stayed with him.
Sarah Laing has been in the news lately as she was awarded a Fellowship and will spend 5 months living and writing in the Sargeson Centre later this year.

29) The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (1983)
fantasy, 1010 challenge, Steampunk group read

I put this on my tbr list last year after reading a few LT reviews, so was pleased to read it as our first steampunk group read. A great adventure story that involves a time traveller from our present day getting stranded in the 19th century.

30) An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay (2009)
fiction

This debut novel has been shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was also shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It is a fictional biography of an artist, Jennet Mallow, one of the 20th century's great women artists, who paints in spite of a full life as wife, mother, housewife, lover, muse.
This is a beautifully descriptive novel that venerates the artist, art, inspiration and creativity.
I loved all the descriptions of the paintings, the act of painting, the colours and light used in her abstracts.
I did find the first 30-40 pages a bit of a slog, but as Jennet became more interesting as an artist rather than her husband's muse the story took off.

Kerry, I have An Equal Stillness here, I might have to bump it up the (growing) pile. Thanks for your review.

Ditto what Lidbud said. It fits into my Orange Prize 10/10 category.

That sounds really fascinating, Kerry. An Equal Stillness goes on the Wishlist that Ate Siberia.

Well, I was going to add An Equal Stillness to the BlackHole, but found it was already there. I guess I better get busy finding a copy!

Just dropping by to say hallo, as I catch up on threads!

Emergency Sex sounds heart-wrenching - and something thatI should read, but probably won't...

>204 avatiakh:/205/206/207/208 re An Equal Stillness, I am told *holds down hands to avoid name-dropping* that one of the things that is most interesting about the book is that Francesca Kay has never studied art - and yet all her descriptions of the artist's life are utterly and completely believable.

I meant to read this for Orange January but other stuff took over (so NB the comment above is obviously a secondhand, not personal, opinion). My mother-in-law read and loved it, and forcibly lent it to me, so it meets my aim of reading borrowed books.

I believe she's the first author to have been listed for both the main Orange Prize and the Orange New Writers Prize.

>210 FlossieT: Well in my opinion she absolutely nails those descriptions. I loved that aspect of the novel.

31) We are all made of glue by Marina Lewycka (2009)
fiction
I read this because I went to an Evening with Marina Lewycka a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed all the banter about her books. I thought her The Short History of Tractors in Ukranian was a delightful and funny read with memorable characters. This is almost as good and has a delightful oldie - Mrs Shapiro, whose age wanders between 65 and 96 depending on who she is talking to. Georgie, her neighbour becomes entangled in Mrs Shapiro's life when she finds the old lady going through her skip.

32) Miss Hargreaves - Frank Baker by Frank Baker (1940) (2009)
fiction
This is one of the Bloomsbury Group series and I've been reading it on and off since sometime in January. I just couldn't get into totally caught up in the book and yet the premise of the story really attracted me. I pushed through the second half of the book these past couple of days and ended up enjoying the darker elements of the story.
Norman and his friend Henry are on holiday and when visiting a church in Ireland, on the spur of the moment, make up an imaginary acquaintance, Miss Constance Hargreaves, for the local sexton and then embellish her back story for their own amusement. Norman, seems to have inherited some sort of talent from his father - sometimes what he makes up comes true. So within a few days of his arrival home, he receives a letter from a Miss Hargreaves, announcing her imminent arrival for a short stay in his town. The story gets darker and darker as Norman tries to control his creation, yet at times feels she is controlling him.

I still have a couple more from the series to read but not for a while as I lent them to my mother.

This week I'm going to evenings with Sarah Waters, Patrick Ness and Elizabeth Kostova. And I just noticed that Irish YA writer Derek Landy is also visiting in March, so I'll try to get to his event as well.

#211: I still need to read The Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, but that is not going to stop me from putting We Are All Made of Glue in the BlackHole.

I think I will try the Frank Baker book too, just for good measure.

Thanks for the recommendations, Kerry!

Enjoy the evening with Patrick Ness, Kerry! He's a very engaging speaker, and delighted to be in your part of the world, I understand. Derek Landy is good fun too. We're in the process of nominating for our first Children's Laureate here at the moment, I'm not sure if he'd make a shortlist but I'd say his name will be mentioned. Very exciting stuff!

I had never even heard of Miss Hargreaves or Frank Baker, but I am now on the lookout for a copy. I can see that this place is very dangerous, as far as increasing the To-be-read pile goes!

33) The Motorcycle Diaries: a journey around South America by Che Guevara (1992)

'Originally marketed by Verso as "Das Kapital meets Easy Rider"', this is Guevara's account of his 1952 adventure with friend Alberto Granado. Che, then 23 yrs old, took time out from his medical studies and with his friend travelled south from Buenos Aires and across to Chile on an old 1939 Norton bike before travelling on to Peru and into Colombia and Venezuela. With scarce funds the two scrounge their way from place to place, sometimes starving but always managing somehow to find a place to sleep and a meal or drink. This trip transforms Che as he sees firsthand the poverty and conditions of the mine workers, the local indians and ostracised lepers.
I now want to watch the movie again.

>214 Lidbud: - Jillian - you will be tempted again and again to add to your wishlist.
That Bloomsbury Series includes other interesting titles - The Brontes went to Woolworths & Henrietta's War. I read A Kid for two Farthings last year. I found out about the series on LT gaskella's blog - http://gaskella.wordpress.com/

I have seen The Motorcycle Diaries on DVD and it is really good. Will have to get my hands on a copy of the book. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention.

#215: I already have The Motorcycle Diaries in the BlackHole, so I do not need to add it again.

I have picked up a couple of those Bloomsbury titles, A Kid for Two Farthings and Henrietta's War.

I'm trying to catch up on LT and I just added 6 books from your thread to the neverending wishlist. I don't know whether I should thank you or not! Lol. But I will... Thank you for all the great reviews. :D

#213 I'll second that (re Patrick Ness)!

Why was the book called Emergency Sex...? Was it just to get people's attention?

#220 - I've already given book back to library - but from memory it was to show that they would talk openly and honestly about their entire experience. There were times when they were in life threatening situations, such as in the compound in Somalia with snipers shooting at the relief workers and soldiers as they went to their rooms which were in shipping containers. 'Emergency sex' was a way of dealing with the constant pressure. Heidi did write about her relationships in more depth than the other two - she had several attachments with local men.

34) Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Rob Shearman (2009)
short stories

I read this for squeakychu's TIOLI challenge to read a book by an LT author. I read Shearman's Tiny Deaths back in January and really liked it, so asked my library to purchase his latest collection, which they did and very promptly too.
This is another great collection of quirky, slightly surreal and on occasion disturbing stories. Each story is about love, but not love as we have come to expect it. Sometimes love gets in the way, becomes boring, annoying or obsessive - but here love is about an affair intermingling with flying rabbits, a pig in the Garden of Eden, a husband gone astray when Luxemburg suddenly disappears and even an unemployed husband/father who becomes a tree-in-training.
While the stories may be unusual, the telling of them can't be faulted. Crisp, enticing, each one is a strange little gem.

35) Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (2008)
YA fantasy fiction
I've had this fantasy on the tbr pile for a while and wanted to get it read as I now have Marchetta's latest The Piper's Son to read. This is her first fantasy, and I think it's pretty good. I like to read a stand alone fantasy, rather than another new trilogy where one has to wait for 2-3 years to find out what happens. The characters in the book are well drawn, while Finnikin is straightup, there is an element of mystery surrounding Evanjalin due to her powers of dreamwalking and her motivations. I liked that the older fighting men and diplomats played an integral part in the story, that it wasn't just left up to the two main protaganists to sort it all out. The child thief, Froi, also was interesting, I liked how he stayed true to his character throughout the story. The settings were rather ambitious as they travel through several very different kingdoms in a seemingly short period of time. I also liked how that story ends with several unfinished threads that I can deal with as I want.
A small kingdom has been ruthlessly taken over and over half the population goes into exile and cannot return to their homeland due to some impenetrable mist. Finnikin is a young boy grown to manhood on the outside. He wants a new country for his countrymen in exile until he is sent to protect a young maiden/seer who is determined to claim back their rightful land.

The Piper's Son is a sequel to Saving Francesca.

Congratulations on reading 35 books thus far.

And, I really like your description of Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical...It is now on the tbr pile.

36) The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg (2007)
nonfiction
This book came to my notice last year when LT LittleTaiko mentioned it on their 999 thread. I finally got round to reading it after watching a TV programme on fishing sustainability.
The book begins in Tokyo's Tsukiji tuna auction market and at first I felt I'd rather be watching a TV documentary. While the book does drag at times, it is overall a fascinating read. An excerpt is available here.
The various chapters cover the history, the gradual spread of sushi around the world, especially in the US and the very important business of bringing fresh tuna to Japan and the depletion of the world's tuna stocks. Yes, there are quotas, but there are also pirates. Yes, there is farmed tuna, but farmed tuna is just great numbers of wild tuna caught up in nets when they are small and fattened in captivity. What scares the author more than Japan's feeling of cultural entitlement to the world's tuna is the growing demand in the next few years from China's new middleclass who are discovering sushi and fresh tuna. Issenberg spent time in numerous sushi restaurants, getting a feel for the training of the chefs and how the restaurants source their supply of fresh tuna, and this was quite fascinating.

This book reminded me again of my teen years when I was at boarding school in the 1970s in New Plymouth, a coastal city. Every night the entire coastline lit up as the Japanese trawlers sat on New Zealand's 14 mile fishing limit and fished the night away, only in 1978 did we implement a 200 nautical mile zone.
Interesting tidbits - the knives for cutting tuna are made by the same craftsmen and techniques as those for samurai swords. Port Lincoln is Australia's richest little town thanks to the abundance of tuna millionaires. Chinese restaurants in the US couldn't replace their chefs when they died of old age in the early 20th century as immigration laws barred entry of Chinese as a race.

Definitely a book you want to discuss with others as there are so many implications of sustainability vs entitlement. And sushi has always been seen as a glamourous commodity. Personally, I don't like any type of sushi at all and my husband loves it and eats it almost daily. So I've already had some lively discussions while reading the book!

I'm now reading among other things Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace - a collection of essays. I read the Consider the Lobster essay online and thought it was just great and a little provocative considering it was written for Gourmet magazine.

edit: link

--> 222

I love short stories, especially quirky ones! I, too, read a book of quirky short stories (The Tiki Palaces of Detroit) for this month's LT author challenge.

I'm very excited to know that your library purchased a book at your request. I was told that my library would do the same, but I never had the occasion to request them to do that. Anyway, Shearman's book sounds right up my alley. Onto the wishlist it went!

#225 Kerry - Nice review. On the topic of samurai swords - I have a 500-year old Wakizashi, which is a true work of art. Even those who have no interest in knife/sword making or forging techniques, become instant converts when they hold the genuine article. As for sushi - I love the stuff. I love Sashimi even more. Since coming to Japan, I've also become a huge fan of Basashi and Torisashi.

Hi, Kerry. Dumb question time, but how do you post covers in your thread?

I mean images of covers.

#230: Jillian, there are instructions on the HTML thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80911 (message 2). I hope that helps!

#228 Peter - Yuk is all I can say to your basashi and torisashi. Give me veggies any day.
I was happy when last in Osaka to discover doria - this meant I didn't have to rely on McDonalds or MOS Burger so often for my meals. My kids were more adventurous than me when it came to Japanese cuisine!
The sword must have pride of place at your home. Very impressive! The long knives they use to initially cut the really big tunas look quite sword-like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oIwOM-Wy8
I picked up Nobu the cookbook today at the library, as he was profiled in The Sushi Economy. The food photography is brilliant.

#229 Jillian - I use that link Stasia has given you all the time. You'll find it listed at the top of the page for our 75 Books Group in the useful threads list.

Thank you!

#232 Kerry - Agree about Nobu: The Cookbook. Did the profile in The Sushi Economy discuss the controversy of his restaurants serving the endangered Bluefin Tuna in spite of the continued protests?

Another beautiful photographed Japanese-themed cookbook is Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto, who worked at Nobu as head chef, before opening his own restaurant, Morimoto, in 2001. He is probably better known however as the Iron Chef on the Japanese cooking show Iron Chef, or on the subsequent US spin-off, Iron Chef America.

Peter - he didn't mention anything about protests in the book. Just concentrated more on the years of training that it takes to be a good/great sushi chef. For Nobu - it was also the influences of his time in South America. He stated the dwindling statistics of the wild tuna catches, and the inability to enforce quotas especially in the Mediterranean because of the tuna pirates.

I've seen Iron Chef a couple of times but will look out for it again.

wow! Some great reads and provocative reviews. Lovely.

37) Small Island by Andrea Levy (2004)
fiction

I read this because I'm attending an author talk with Andrea Levy tonight and I wanted to have read one of her books before I went. This one has been on my tbr pile for a couple of years and has been getting great reviews here on the 75 book group lately.
I really enjoyed this too and will be reading her latest The Long Song as soon as I can manage it.
I'm not always of a fan of books that set up an interesting plot and then spend the rest of the book going into the back story of each character rather than moving forward, but it works here like a charm.

ooh sounds good -- I *do* hope you have a good time tonight and learn all sorts of fun stuff.

I'm glad that you liked Small Island, Kerry, and I'm very interested to learn about the talk. Have a great time!

Have a great time at the talk! You are going to so many author talks at the moment. I heard her interviewed on one of the English podcasts (BBC or Guardian) recently and she sounded lovely.

The sushi book is one I'll look for. I love the stuff and found a great sushi bar here 10 days ago. (I have no clue where the fish comes from - so many oceans ni the neighbourhood.). Might read the book after our next visit...

I'm very envious of you Kerrie, seeing/hearing Andrea Levy tonight. Do give us a report on it.

Thanks everyone, I'm looking forward to this evening most out of all the Summer Season talks I've been too. I went to a preliminary volunteers meeting for our Auckland Writers and Readers Festival which is in May and got to hear about all the writers that have booked including Colm Toibin, Thomas Kenneally, John Carey, William Dalrymple, Yiyun Li and Sarah Thornton. The problem is that the programme director made everyone sound fascinating, especially intriguing is Ben Naparstek who she says looks about 18 years old and yet has interviewed some of the world's greatest writers.

I also went to hear Patrick Ness talk about 10 days ago and he was very interesting too. I took my daughter, Dana (13yrs), and she is now reading The Knife of Letting Go. I have to preorder Monsters of Men and find his book of short stories that FlossieT and flissp were reading.

Ooh, Finnikin's Rock and Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical both look great. Onto the wishlist they go!

38) The Summer King by Joanna Preston (2009)
poetry, TIOLI challenge
I'm not usually a poetry reader but the TIOLI March challenge is to read an LT author, and as Joanna is a member of our 75 challenge group and a copy of her book was sitting in my local library I took the plunge.
The cover illustration with its red background is striking and I also loved the endpaper illustration which was a reverse effect of the twigs and leaves from the cover. I've admired the work of the designer, Sarah Maxey, before - see CK Stead's Dog.

The Summer King collection won the inaugural Kathleen Gratton Award in 2008.
I enjoyed the poems and the diversity of subject matter. I loved the imagery and the poems mostly had a flow and rhythm that appealed to me. Some of the poems had a gothic edge, while others shone a fresh light on our natural world. This is an accessible collection that I'd be happy to dip into again and has interested me in reading more poetry.

The gleam of light
from the edge of the cold
curved blade of Grandpa's sickle
hung like a harvested moon
in the darkest corner of the barn
Edge (verse one) pg39

the light is thick with shadows
and corners. And you are there too,
quiet tenant,
the curve in your mother's skirt.
For Mary-Louise (verse 3) pg32

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

You're going to have to give us key points of all these author talks that you're going to!

Hope you enjoy the Patrick Ness short stories (Topics About Which I Know Nothing) - I thought they were great fun - but I think you should give The Knife of Never Letting Go a go too, after your daughter has finished it!

Oooh! I'm so happy that TIOLI got you reading outside your usual book fare and that you had a wonderful result.

Poetry often gets tossed aside in favor of novels or non-fiction. I oftem wonder how poets can continue to write if they don't have a very large audience to appreciate their work. I'm glad to see that our LT author Joanna Preston has a collection of poetry that is good enough to garner such a favorable review.

I, too, love the cover art on this book (and the other book to which your review was linked). To me, good cover art really does enhance a book. You probably already know that, though, as I'd been enchanted by the cover art of Coming Up Roses, which you sent me (Thanks, again!).

#245 - Joanna, I would have loved to do a more formal review but my limited prowess in the poetry sphere prevents me.

#246 - flissp. I'm already hanging out for Monsters of Men, I've read each Chaos Walking book as they came out.

#247 - Squeakychu - I like to take note of good book design from time to time. This one has a lovely quirky edge to it, which suits the poetry. And yes, out of my comfort zone a little on the poetry.
In answer to your earlier question which I neglected to reply to at the time - I often ask my library to purchase books and a lot of the time they do. It's part of the service and I ask for books that will appeal to other readers too. The Sushi Economy was another of my successful requests.

I'm on on again-off again reader of poetry. I need to be in a particular mood (usually associated with rainy days) before I can read poetry (even the happy ones). If you're getting back to poetry, have you read any by Nikki Giovanni? She has an impressive collection of poems and Bicycles is a recent book of love poems I've read from her which I really enjoyed. They were funny, teasing, warm, and ..... sort of jazzy.

Thanks cameling - I had a look over on amazon.com and was able to read a few of the poems. My library, of course, hasn't got any of her work.
I'll probably try for some local talent first as CK Stead has published an impressive volume of his collected poetry and I've never read any of his work. I still have Alison Wong's collection Cup to read.
I'd also like to read some epic poetry, I listened to Seamus Heaney reading Beowulf last year and that was a real treat. Joanna mentioned on her thread that Simon Armitage's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is superlative so I should have a look at that.

I think you'll enjoy the Armitage Green Knight. And I loved Cup, so I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.

39) Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey (1949)
fiction, group read
Another good read from Tey that is strong on character and set in the horse world of the upper classes.

I've not been reading much lately, I seem to have too many books on the go that I'm not really in the mood for. I'm trying to finish Skulduggery Pleasant before I go to see Derek Landy tomorrow night but it's not really grabbing my interest.

40) Someone named Eva by Joan M. Wolf (2007)
children's fiction
Based on the horrific revenge that Hitler unleashed on the town of Lidice in the Czech Republic for an attempted assassination by Czech resistance fighters of the Nazi Heydrich, 'butcher of Prague'. 11 year old Milada is sent to a Lebensborn school where she is, renamed Eva and trained to become a German child. After many months she is adopted into a German family. Milada/Eva has forgotten her own language and does not know the fate of her real family.
There is an afterward by Wolf explaining what happened to the people of Lidice.
The book covers a really interesting corner of history, though being written for children it is very simplistic.

#253: Thanks for the recommendation of that one, Kerry. My local library has a copy and I was able to put it on hold.

> 253: Kerry
I will look for that book, it sounds good, I hope it is translated!

Oh gosh - I might have made this one sound better than it actually is! Do note that the plot only follows what happens to Milada and her time in the school and with her German family. It suits a 9-11yr age group, there isn't any violence in it, that is all 'off stage' so to say.
The info on Lidice in the afterward was of great interest and I wouldn't mind reading about it in more detail. The writer, Joan Wolf, mentions that there is little information on the Lebensborn schools that the Nazis ran. The children were renamed, indoctrinated in Nazi culture & German language and after 1-2 years in the school had basically forgotten their previous life and language.

> 256: Kerry, don't worry I did read other reviews and still think it is an interesting book, I read a lot of Childrens & YA :-)

41) The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander (2007)
fiction
I found this novel immensely satisfying with a memorable cast of characters and a rich fable-like plot. Set in 1970s Buenos Aires we follow the trials and tribulations of Kaddish, a Jewish father whose son, Pato, has become one of the disappeared. As he and his wife, Lillian, struggle to adjust to this life of not knowing, they become estranged and unravelled as one looks for hope in unlikely places while the other begins to accept the inevitable.
This debut novel has strong Jewish overtones and also covers one of the saddest events in modern history.
Kaddish is an outsider’s outsider — not just a Jew but a Jew in Argentina, and not just a Jew in Argentina, but a Jew in Argentina condescended to by his fellow Jews. He’s a schlemiel with a big nose, a hijo de puta, “son of a whore,” a husband who disappoints his long-suffering wife, a father who enrages his son (and accidentally maims him), a pariah hectored by rabbis, a literal chiseler whose vocation is to efface from tombstones the names of Jews buried in a cemetery of gangsters and prostitutes, thus sanitizing the reputations of the descendants who pay for this service. The more Kaddish fails, the more we love him. In the tradition of Jewish bumblers in literature, he seems protected by God. Or at least by the author. NY Times review

I'm with Stasia and Anita and adding Someone Named Eva to the tbr pile.

And, congratulations on reading 41 books thus far!

Nice review of The Ministry of Special Cases, Kerry. I see that Larry (lriley) and Madeline (SqueakyChu) each gave it 5 stars, so I'll put this at the top of my "Must Buy" list.

>259 Whisper1: I Pearl-Ruled The Ministry of Special Cases for stylistic infelicity. Should I revisit my irritable response, in your opinion?

Also, Miss Kerry, it seems that your thread has achieved Stasia-esque length. Thinking about another one soon?

I really liked Ministry of Special Cases too, Kerry. I'm sorry I didn't review it. I was just having a hard time figuring out how to talk about the juxtaposition of the story of this one Jewish Family told with a very familiar kind of "black humor" (or maybe I should say "yiddish humor") and the larger story--that was being repressed at the time--of the thousands of people who "disappeared" during the 70's in Argentina. You made it look easy. That was a good quote of the NY Times as well.

#261 - I really fell for the characters in this one. Style schmyle - I enjoyed the way it was written, I say give it some points for poor old Kaddish's sake if not Englander's.

New thread - was hoping to keep this one for another week till I take a break for my holiday. I might start one tomorrow if I can finish Skulduggery Pleasant tonight.

#262 - bonniebooks, I saw that you had read it, I'm reading lots of threads but not commenting that much at present. I know what you mean - I described it as 'fable-like' but that doesn't quite cut it for me, but I needed to post so I could go out. I really liked the old-world atmosphere of Jewish Buenos Aires that the novel conjures up.

--> 259, 261

I Pearl-Ruled The Ministry of Special Cases for stylistic infelicity. Should I revisit my irritable response, in your opinion?

No question about it. Revisit it. This was a most amazing read. By "stylistic infelicity", do you mean the inappropriate use of humor for this devastating story? What the author does with this book and the writing, to me anyway, was amazing. I started off thinking that this was a funny book, but very subtly and slowly I found that humor clouded over by something very dark and ominous. I was totally entranced by this book. It's definitely one of my top all-time reads, both due to the writing itself and the subject matter.

I actually have a hard cover copy of The Ministry of Special Cases. If anyone (U.S. only, please) wants to mooch it from me, just let me know, and I'll post it on BookMooch with a reserve. My copy of this book is registered with Bookcrossing (of course!).

After all these excellent recommendations I'd be a fool to not put The Ministry of Special Cases on my list. It sounds sooo good. Thanks Kerrie.

My new thread is here