jenp27

Mar 8

Read Around the World: Nigeria

The next stop on our world tour of reading is The Federal Republic of Nigeria. Here are some facts about Nigeria (and please feel free to add your own facts in the comments section):

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa with over 170 million people and approximately 250 ethnic groups. The Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo are the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Archaeological discoveries have shown that Nigeria is one of the oldest locations of human existence.
The official language is English but more than 500 native languages are also spoken.
Home to Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry that trails just behind Bollywood
It is the 12th largest producer of crude oil in the world
Average life expectancy is 52 years old due to poor healthcare, living conditions, and lack of access to clean water.
Nigeria has been plagued by sectarian violence, military coups, and corruption as a result of both ethnic and religious tensions.

Book Selected: Half of a Yellow Sun  by Chimamanda Ngozi Acidly
Published in: 2006
Find it/buy it here:Half of a Yellow Sun

Reason Selected: To be honest, the main reason we selected this book is because we both loved it and wanted to share it with you. The book is also a good selection to represent Nigeria for several reasons: 1) It gives readers a background to understanding some of the sectarian violence that has plagued Nigeria for many years; 2) it is filled with descriptions of cultural traditions; and 3) it follows characters from different backgrounds, highlighting the diversity of traditions within Nigeria. But more than anything, this book is a beautiful novel about a country and a people who have struggled with adversity.
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Mar 5

3 Comments

My Top 10 Favorite Recent Reads in Honor of World Book Day

It’s World Book Day (or at least according to the U.K.), the day many young children dress up as their favorite book characters and embrace their favorite books. Learn more about it on NPR. While, I won’t be dressing up like any book character, I have decided to honor the day with a a list of a few of my favorites. If you click the links, it will take you to Amazon where you can read the synopses.

My 10 Favorite Reads in recent years (in no particular order).
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel (Vintage International) by Murakami
Cloud Atlas: A Novel by David Mitchell
The Savage Detectives: A Novel by Roberto Bolaño
The History of Love: A Novel by Nicole Krauss
Black Box by Amos Oz
The Book Thief: Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition by Markus Zusak
The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Book 1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Of Love and Shadows: A Novel by Isabel Allende
The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One by Patrick Rothfuss
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie

My 5 TBR books that I’m most looking forward to reading in the next year:

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Station Eleven: A novel by Emily St John Mandel
All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel by Anthony Marra
The Bone Clocks: A Novel by David Mitchell

Which books make your lists?

Mar 5

2 Comments

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Published: 2015
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by: Jen
Find it/Buy it here:Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

Trigger Warning is a Gaiman’s most recent collection of short stories that cuts across genres and includes horror and ghost stories, science fiction, fairy tales, and poetry. The collection includes a never before published American Gods story, a Doctor Who tribute, a Sherlock Holmes story, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The book also contains an interesting introduction by the author where he discusses the meaning of the title and background on each story.
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Mar 3

1001 Book Review: Hawksmoor by Ackroyd

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
First published: 1985
Format: Audiobook narrated by Derek Jacobi
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: ★★★

In the 18th century Nicholas Dyer, an architect, and secret devil worshiper, is commissioned to build seven London churches. In the 1980s, detective Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating a series of gruesome murders that took place in the sites of those same seven churches. Hawksmoor alternates between the two time periods and Ackroyd uses different styles to reflect “modern” day language and 18th century language. As the story progresses, readers begin to piece recognize patterns and connections between the two periods.

Nicholas Dyer is loosely based on real life architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (I wish I had known this prior to reading the book – notice the overlapping names of characters) who worked with Sir Christopher Wren (also mentioned in Ackroyd’s book). The real Nicholas Hawksmoor was a free mason who incorporated pagan symbols into his churches and did in fact build the 7 churches mentioned in the book. The Guardian published an interesting piece on Hawksmoor and his churches. Scroll down the bottom of this review to see images of the 7 churches.

Let me begin by saying that audio is the wrong format with which to tackle this book. The book is confusing, the author jumps around between time periods, some names are similar across time periods, and the narrator does not do a good job of distinguishing between voices.

Now on to my review… Read more

Mar 1

14 Comments

Love it or Hate it? Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Have you ever noticed how some books seem to drive a wedge between people? You check the reviews and find almost no middle-of-the-road ratings. Instead people either seem to love it or hate it. Well, welcome to the Love it or Hate it post category! Each month, we’ll pick one book to review and two contributors will battle it out to convince you to pick it up or throw it out.

Last month we discussed Atonement and an overwhelming number of you voted for either “love it” or “want to read it.” Many thanks to Nicole R for writing the hilarious “hate it” section for Atonement.

This month we will be discussing: Life of Pi by Yann Martel. We have two contributors this month and their names will be revealed after voting closes! Please make sure to vote for this month’s book! The poll is at the bottom of this post.

Book Summary (from GoodReads):
Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, a Tamil boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Jen’s Life in Books: Nursery Rhymes

I acknowledge that I can be a bit of a book snob, but I have enjoyed books from many different genres and I have eclectic tastes. So, it is hard for me to select only one nursery rhyme to reflect my development as a reader. I also have to admit that Book Worm has a much better memory than I do because the truth of the matter is I can’t think of only one nursery rhyme that stood out to me above others. Read more

Feb 24

Blindness by Saramago: Non-1001 Book review

Blindness by José Saramago
Published in: 1995
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4 stars
Find it/Buy it here: Blindness (Harvest Book)

Synopsis: A city is hit by an epidemic of “white blindness” and one by one every citizen loses their ability to see. During early phases of the epidemic, the authorities attempt to contain the disease by setting up quarantine zones in various locations. A group of characters who are among the first to become blind, find themselves quarantined in an old mental institution. As the epidemic spreads and society starts to break down, more and more “inmates” join the original group until the place becomes saturated. Among the blind, there is one woman who retains her eyesight. This woman, “the doctor’s wife,” pretends to be blind in order to avoid being separated from her husband. She becomes the central character in the story and ultimately leads the group through a variety of harrowing experiences. Blindness is more than just a apocalyptic tale. It is a story of the merits and downfalls of human nature that is both terrifying and uplifting. Read more

Feb 22

4 Comments

Kid’s Corner: The Giving Tree by Silverstein

Welcome to our very first Kid’s Corner! Each month, my daughter and I will pick a book to read and review together. I’ll provide my thoughts on the book and I’ll write out my daughter’s thoughts.

Some things to know about my daughter:

She is 4
She LOVES all things princess (mermaids are a close second)
She likes to read all kinds of books but particularly princess books

Some things to know about me:

I HATE princess things, particularly princess books (Barbies are a close second).
I like to pick different kinds of books, except for princess books.

So for our first book, we picked a classic… Read more

Feb 17

1 Comment

1001 Review: Rites of Passage by William Golding

Rites of Passage by Golding
First published in: 1980
Winner of Man Booker Prize in 1980
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: ★★★★

Rites of Passage is the first book in Golding’s To the Ends of the Earth trilogy and it won the Man Booker prize in 1980. It is written in the form of a travel journal and it documents Edmund Talbot’s sea voyage from England to Australia. Mr. Talbot is the godson of an English nobleman and he writes the journal in order to share his experiences of the voyage with his godfather. Initially, he uses the journal to describe the setting, the passengers, and his experience experience on board the ship, but the journal ultimately describes the tragic downfall of one passenger: Parson Colley. The novel is a clever commentary about class, bullying, and man’s complicity in the downfall of others. The reader quickly learns that the ship is a microcosm of British society. The lower class passengers are in a separate section from the aristocracy and treatment of the officers is determined by where passengers fall on the social class spectrum. It is part coming of age story and part social commentary.

I was skeptical about this book because I don’t care for swashbuckling, sea voyage, sailing, types of books. However, while the entire story is set during a sea voyage, the plot is not at all focused on the voyage. I thought that Golding does a wonderful job in creating a sense of discomfort in the reader by flipping the switch on our perspective from identification with Talbot (to mild degree) to compassion and identification with Colley. Initially, we are made complicit in the atmosphere of bullying. For example, we are made to feel the absurdity of the parson — the image of him as a bumbling, weak, and awkward man permeates our viewpoint. We find humor in his struggles to gain the favor of the Captain and to gain his sea legs. Then Golding turns the tables on us and we are made to see how the initial light and humorous tone turned into cruelty, leading us to question our roles as readers in finding early events humorous.

The commentary of class, a central theme of this book, is interesting. Social prejudice is rampant and once again Golding turns the table on readers. Characters who are seen as moral and noble (the upper class passengers) are shown to be course and cruel and vice versa.

Finally, I enjoyed picking up on similarities between this book and Lord of the Flies. Golding seems to like themes about man’s isolation and how behaviors emerge in the context of removal from “civilized” society. The writing is solid with an interesting blend of humor and tragedy. It is a book that I was surprised I enjoyed so much and that I would be happy to recommend to others.

Overall: A very engaging and thought-provoking read.

BBC also has a series based on these books. You can find it on netflix. It is supposed to be quite good.

Want to read it? You can purchase it from Amazon by clicking: Rites of Passage (To the End of the Earth)

NOTE: If you do buy your copy from Amazon, don’t get the $1.42 ebook version. I originally bought this copy and it was filled with formatting issues and mistakes. I returned it for a refund and bought the $7.00 version and didn’t have any problems with that version. But, then when I tried to find it again, they only had the $1.42 version listed. So, I’d recommend the paper copy or try your local library.

Feb 15

7 Comments

Featured Author: Haruki Murakami

Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949. He found the inspiration to become a writer while watching a baseball game. After publishing his second novel, he sold the bar he was running with his wife (Peter Cat coffeehouse and jazz bar) and dedicated his life to writing. Since then he has published over 15 books and many short stories which have been translated into 50 languages.

His books are quirky, smart, and funny and he has become an iconic figure of postmodern literature. Many of his books focus on themes of loneliness, alienation, and search for meaning within modern Japanese culture. He has won numerous awards and prizes for both is novels and his short story collections. The Guardian recently referred to Murakami as the world’s greatest living novelist. However, he has been criticized by Japan’s literary establishment for being overly influenced by Western culture and literature. Read more