Sometimes the Hype is True!

I am not one of those people who is automatically turned off by something just because everyone else is talking about it.  So when the hype started about Room earlier this fall I was open-minded.  But when reviewer after reviewer gave it five stars and rhapsodized about how fabulous it is, I started to wonder if the publisher was passing out that special kool-aid along with the ARCs.  When my book club chose it for our January selection, I was excited to find out if all of the mayhem and foolishness was warranted.

And it was!  For anyone living under a literary rock for the past several months, Room is the story of Jack, a five year old boy who lives with his mother in Room, an 11x11 foot shed in the backyard of Old Nick, the man who kidnapped Jack's mother seven years before.  Room is the only home, and indeed the only world that Jack has ever known.  To protect him from wanting what he could not have, Jack's mother, Ma, told him that everything outside of room was "in the tv".  When he discovers the truth, he is forced to confront a world that is completely alien to everything he has ever known.

Room is a novel unlike any other I have ever read, and not just because of the five year old narrator.  Donaghue does an admirable job of taking a sensationalized headline and turning it into something multi-dimensional and very human.  As a society we were rather obsessed withe the myth of the rabid stranger collecting young girls-even before we found out that it is not always a myth.  Elizabeth Smart's ordeal seemed to put an exclamation point on all of our fears about the stranger in the parking lot, waiting to pounce.  While her experience is still much more rare than lightning strikes or shark attacks, the very fact that it happened at all lends credence to some of our darkest societal fears.  Donaghue could easily have taken this fictional kidnapping and told it from the mother's point of view, or the media's.  What she did instead makes it a much more human story.  And not just a story about violence against women.  Jack's short life and entry (I can't call it a re-entry) into the world outside of Room was a fascinating look at how children are socialized, and what makes a person part of the world. 

Happy New Year!

I’d like to wish all my friends and readers a very Happy New Year!

May 2011 brings you happiness, prosperity, good health and more books!!

Best Books of 2010

It is that time of the year again which we get to list our favourite reads for the year. It was 2005 when I first did a ‘Book of the Year’ on my blog, and thereafter I make it a ‘tradition’ to do this at the end of each year. It is always so much fun and it also reflects what type of a reader I am for that year based on the books I read. While doing this list, I found out that I have been reading more YA novels this year as compared to the past; there are just so many great YA novels released this year and of course, I have to thank fellow bookbloggers for the recommendations.

Following last year's format, I am going to list the best books based on their genres. This list is basically chosen from my 2010 reading list and they may not necessarily be books published in 2010. Without further ado, here they are (please note all titles are not listed in any particular order):

Best YA

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Alright, so I listed three books instead of one under the YA category; I just couldn’t make up my mind over this since I loved them equally. Going Too Far has a great story and a greater characterisations to boot; and as for Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour, this book just gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. As for Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, this book has captured the voice and emotional of teenagers, and what's more it is about finding romance when you least expected it; this is a true delight for all booklovers out there!

Since there are several titles which I also enjoyed but did not make it to the list, I think I should give them a shout out as well.

Honorary Mention:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Half World by Hiromi Goto

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Best Fiction
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Hands down! I don’t think there is any other book that is able to beat this one in my humble opinion. Sarah Waters rocks! Not only her writing is beautiful, but she is a great storyteller too!

Honorary Mention:
The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda

Midori by Moonlight by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
On Folly Beach by Karen White


Best Thrillers
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Killing Floor by Lee Child

Faithful Place by Tana French

I had read a few good thrillers this year, thus I had a hard time narrowing down the list. However the above three titles stood out from among the rest because their plots had sort of blown me away. While plots are crucial to all stories, I find the characterisations are equally important too and I find the above three titles have them. It is no matter if those lead characters are heroes or one that carry emotional baggage, the point is they are some characters whom I would never forget in a long while.

Honorary Mention:

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy

Best Romance
Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

I have to confess that I did not read a lot of romance this year, but the few which I read were actually great. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James stood out among the list because it is highly entertaining. I don't remember reading a romance that made me laugh out loud for a long time, which I think is a good thing. However that does not mean that there isn't sizzle in this romance, there are! This book is one of those from enemies-turn to-lovers kind of stories and despite the cliché I still loved it!

Honorary Mention:

Ruthless by Anne Stuart

Best Manga/Graphic Novel
Blankets by Craig Thompson

How could I not rate Blankets as one of my top reads in 2010? Aside from the beautiful illustrations, the premise is both meaningful and powerful!

Honarary Mention:

告白〔漫画版〕- 湊佳苗 Confession by Kanae Minato (Manga)

裸足玫瑰 - 上田伦子 Stepping on Roses by Rinko Ueda (Manga)

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

So there you go! Which books are on your 'Best Of" list?

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

ISBN-13: 9780375866593
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: October 2010
272 pgs
Source: Personal Library




If someone left a moleskine notebook with a list of literary clues at a bookstore asking you to play along with him/her, would you take up the dare? Or would you just simply put the moleskine notebook back where it was placed and walk away?

Lily finds herself alone during the Christmas holidays, since her parents are off to Fiji to celebrate their Silver Anniversary and her elder brother, Langston would rather prefer spending his time with Benny, his new boyfriend than to be with her. However he has some plans for Lily and that involves a red Moleskine notebook, in which he together with Benny, mapped out a series of clues into it and left it at the Strand, the bookstore where they patronise frequently. Langston thought she would find a companion just right for her by helping her this way, but Lily thinks otherwise. Truth be told, she is simply a nice, quiet girl who loves playing soccer and one who loves books. It is not that Lily isn't attractive, but more like being the youngest of the family, she is well-protected and everyone around her neighbourhod seems to know her Grandpa and they all look affectionately upon him. So naturally they are looking out for her as well.

On the other end, Dash, another sixteen-year-old teenager, is alone during the holidays season too. Unlike Lily, his parents are divorced and he would rather spend the time by himself; he told each of his parents that he will be spending the holiday with the other, thus leaving them making plans of their own without him. Anyway, while he is perusing some shelves at the Strand one day, he finds a red Moleskine notebook hidden in between the books. Intrigued by it and the prospect that anyone would leave a notebook there, he takes it off the shelf and found out that someone has left some clues as part of a dare. Being a bookish person (he thinks so himself), his curiosity is piqued both by the literary clues written in it as well as the notebook owner. He decides to follow the leads and this is where the story begins.

This is a book about Dash and Lily's thoughts and their dreams as they exchange their inner thoughts and some information about themselves as they pass the notebook to and fro without meeting each other. Their dares would include finding funny book titles to travelling to places where they won't go under normal circumstances, yet it is through these explorations/experiences that they get to know each other more and finding something new about themselves which they haven't thought about from the beginning. There is just something intimate about their relationship despite that they are strangers, and this is one reason why I was being hooked to this story.

But that is not all to it, this novel has wonderfully captured the voice, the thoughts as well as the emotional parts of teenagers and I felt myself transported back into my teenaged years while reading it. Another thing I loved is the bookish theme and it also reinforces my thoughts on fate and that dreams can come true if you dare to believe and act on it. I wish I could go on and on but at this moment I was simply dumbstruck by the beauty of this story. Another thing is, though this is a collaboration work between Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, it feels as if it is written by one author because it flows smoothly; Cohn and Levithan's prose and writing style really complement one another and that further makes this book a lovely read. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is their third collaboration work.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

My husband got this cake with compliments from the company he works for (each employee got one of those along with a fruits basket, I'm so jealous, ha.) Sorry for the poor quality as I took this from my mobile phone.

Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

I have just finished reading Rachel Cohn & David Levithan's Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. Since this book is so good and that I haven't made up my mind what book to read next, I decided to share two passages instead of one for this week's Teaser Tuesdays.

---

I could have sat next to you on the subway, or brushed beside you as we went through the turnstiles. But whether or not you are here, you are here - because these words are for you, and they wouldn't exist if you weren't here in some way.
(Pg 95)

* * * * * * * *

Snarl must have had me under some kind of spell because sneaking out in the middle of the night, on Christmas night no less, to a dive club on the Lower East Side was about the last dare that pre-notebook Lily ever would have taken on. But somehow, knowing the Moleskine was tucked away in my bag, containing our thoughts and clues, our imprints to each other, somehow that made me feel safe, like I could have this adventure and not get lost and not call my brother to save me.
(Pg 110)

A Trip to Jurong Bird Park On Christmas Day

Well the weekend had just passed us just like that! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Our Christmas was spent at the Jurong Bird Park. Actually we had wanted to visit the previous week, but it rained so we postponed our trip. So here are just a few pictures we took... Happy viewing!

Main entrance of Jurong Bird Park

Don't you love these little guys?

The King Penguins. Can you also see one swimming in the water?

These flamingos made a spectacular sight!

Assorted colourful parrots.

Watch some various birds performing at the Pools Amphitheatre.

Waterfall!

My husband captured this little fellow hopping around while he was taking some pictures. I love its pose... so adorable!

Another eye-catching scene.

Pelicans. They remind me of some scenes from Finding Nemo.

Eagles always look fierce and dominant no matter how they pose.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! Can't believe this week is already the last week of 2010! I hope to finish reading David Levithan and Rachel Cohn's Dash & Lily's Book of Dares so I can add it onto my 2010 reading list. And then, there would be my 'Best Of' list which I would be posting in a few days' time.

I don't have the habit of setting New Year Resolutions since life can be so unpredictable but I'm hoping that next year will be another great reading year for me. And it would also be a year dedicating to my TBR pile since they are always growing and I need to make a dent out of those before they got out of control! (More bookshelves, please!)

Happy reading everyone! I'm off to read some more from Dash & Lily's Book of Dares; it gets better the more I flip through those pages!

Let the Great World Spin (Which Should Be Titled The Dark Side of New York)

New York seems to elicit strong emotions in most people.  New Yorkers generally seem to consider themselves slightly better than the rest of us just for residing in its hallowed boundaries.  Theater people can't wait to make it there, artists have only made it if they've shown there.  It's big and noisy and beautiful and ugly and cultured and gritty.  I myself have only visited once, for one long afternoon.  Being from Chicago, I expected that it would feel like a city-I am not unfamiliar with the hustle and bustle, after all.  But there is something different about New York.

I imagine that it is that je ne sais quoi that makes New York the subject of so much art.  Books, plays, movies, television-there is no lack of New York themed writing out there.  Since 9-11 I think that to a certain extent all Americans have adopted New York.  We celebrate it as a shiny example of America at its best.  But like any large urban center New York has its dark side, which is what Colum McCann so artfully portrays in Let the Great World Spin.

Let the Great World Spin is a multi-layered, non-linear look at the lives of several New Yorkers, and how they intersect in the summer of 1974.  The backdrop for the story is the tightrope walk of Phillipe Petit between the World Trade Center towers.  There is Ciaran Corrigan, whose brother is a missionary working with the hookers in the Bronx.  Then there is Claire, a Park Avenue matron whose son was killed in Viet Nam.  You have Lara, an artist trying to dry out after the hedonism of the New York art scene in the early 70s, and Tilllie, one of the hookers from under the bridge.  As the lives of these people, and more, intersect in seemingly random yet meaningful ways, we see a side of New York that is gritty, dirty, ugly, and hidden from most of the world.

First let me say that I was distracted while reading this novel with the juxtaposition in my mind of the man walking between the Towers and the memories I have of watching the footage of people falling from the Towers on 9-11.  I think that for those of us who lived through that horrific day, we will never be able to think about the Towers in any other way again.  Every time I watch a movie shot in pre-9-11 New York, I am startled by the World Trade Center in the background.  I can't read about the construction of the Towers without thinking about their destruction.  This preoccupation may have caused me to miss at least some of what McCann was trying to do in this novel.  Because I will admit to not really getting it.  I was intrigued enough by the characters and their relationships with each other that I wanted to keep reading, but I've seen this work described as a great New York novel, and I'm not sure what it was trying to say about New York.  Most of the novel felt soiled-even the story of the Park Avenue mother and her judge husband felt a little bit dirty.  Perhaps the point was that despite Watergate, and Viet Nam, and the Civil Rights movement, and yes, the tightrope walker, the real story was in the lives of the ordinary people, trying to find meaning in the chaos.  But surely that story is not uniquely New York.  Regardless of what McCann wanted to say about New York, what I took away from Let the Great World Spin is a feeling like he took the rock called urban America and turned it over, exposing the creepy, crawly things living just under the surface.

Historical Fiction, Anyone?

So I wasn't going to do any challenges this year, after failing at the 100+ Book Challenge this year (but I got to 91, which is nothing to sneeze at), but I think that I can do this one.  Thanks to Historical Tapestry for hosting.  I'm going for the "Daring and Curious" level, which is 5-10 historical fiction titles.  I can think of at least five I already have on my shelves, so I should be able to meet that with very little pressure.    If you want to join the challenge, sign up at Historical Tapestry.  Happy historical fiction to you!

Happy Holidays!

It's Christmas tomorrow and since I won't be blogging then, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, and may your holiday season be blessed with peace, love and joy!

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Disaster by Laura Spinella

ISBN-13: 9780425238608
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: January 2011
384 pgs
Source: Publicist



At first glance of the title (and the cover), Beautiful Disaster looks like a suspense but it is actually a story about love lost and found.

Mia Montgomery's dreams is to be a successful interior designer; not any interior designer but one who focus on holistic design and to promote an eco-friendly concept in her work. She takes pride in her work, and she thinks she is getting there when she received a telephone call from a doctor friend, Roxanne, that Peyton Flynn McDermott is in the ICU due to an automobile accident and he is in a coma.

Memories of the past began to creep up on her, after all Flynn is her ex-lover and she thought that she would never hear from him after all this time. He has walked out of her life twelve years ago but that does not make Mia stop thinking about him over the years. Mia knew Flynn when she was just a design student at the University of Georgia then. Flynn was the one who took notice of her initially, but he didn't think they belong to the same league anyway since he has a dark secret past while Mia looks like she doesn't belong to anything in his world. But then fate seems to be in their way as they later met each other in a pub, and Mia strike up a conversation with him both out of curiosity as well as a bet which she had with Roxanne, in which she was sure that she would get this mysterious stranger to buy her a beer, which he did.

However, Roxanne isn't pleased with the idea that Mia is getting too close with Flynn. On top of that, there is a serial killer on the run and with Flynn's mysterious background she tries all means to stop Mia from being with him. On the other end, Flynn does live dangerously in the past, but he has reasons and to avoid spoiling anything I would not disclose much about his character. Instead I could only tell you that there is a lot of sexual intense between Mia and Flynn, and that you would be enticed with Spinella's prose as she weaves this story between the present and the past.

Characters wise, I think Laura Spinella has done a great job in portraying Mia, Flynn, and Roxanne as well. I think readers would be able to connect with them through Spinella's detailed descriptions of them. However, though I think the characterisations are great, I have to admit that Roxanne's attitude is a little off putting from the way she fussed over Mia's love life but from another perspective, I think she is simply concerned about Mia, that's all. Mia, on the other hand, is a true romantic who totally believes in love and herself.

Beautiful Disaster may have a slight suspense tone, but at its core it is about the power of love and second chance. And oh, did I mention that there is a Southern setting to this story? Well because I absolutely love reading fictions that have a Southern setting. This book is Laura Spinella's debut and I can't wait to find out what she has in store next.

(Many thanks to Erin Galloway for sending this book to me for review!)

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday

Some of the pictures I took while shopping around; I took them via my mobile phone so that explains the poor quality. I especially loved the last picture that shows the Christmas trees with various colours of teddy bears.

Be an Armchair Activitst

In 2001, the world turned its attention to Afghanistan.  In the wake of 9-11, everyone suddenly wanted to know more about this small country in Asia where Osama Bin Laden had planned and orchestrated the attack on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon.  All of a sudden the media was full of experts who wanted to explain the Taliban to us, explain what dangerous crazy extremists they were, and why we needed to go over there and take them out.

Here's the thing-some of us already knew about the Taliban.  Some of us had been urging the US government to intervene in Afghanistan for years.  The loudest voice came from the Feminist Majority Foundation, which educated people about the horrific conditions that existed for women under Taliban rule.  Because I found the FMF, I was able to explain to my confused, grief-stricken friends exactly who it was that had let Bin Laden find a safe haven.

There is a whole 'nother post in the question of why the US did nothing to help the women in Afghanistan until aafter 9-11, but the question I want to pose is whether things in Afghanistan would have happened the way they did if A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini had been published in the 1990s instead of after 9-11. If more people had known about the conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan, would more have been done to remove the Taliban before Bin Laden moved in?  I realize this is a fairly simplistic view of geopolitics, but as someone who believes in the power of reading to create understanding across cultures, I have to believe that increased knowledge of world issues would somehow lead to different results.

Teachers will tell you that reading opens doors in your imagination, that by reading you can explore new worlds and escape to exotic places.  And that is certainly true.  But there are authors who are out there writing truth to power, authors who have written works that hold up injustice and demand us to look, not to turn our heads.   And because reading is transactional, those of us who read those authors and those books can't help but be changed by the experience.

This may seem a fairly passive way to participate in social justice.  After all, there are people doing good works in our communities all the time, people who volunteer, who protest, who lobby, who take to the streets in an effort to make peace and justice a reality for all people.  But if you are like me, with a spouse, a child, a job, a mortgage, chances are that the best you can do is write that check to the charity of your choice.  While this is an important act, allowing people who can to do the work, it might leave you with a thin patina of guilt, a small voice in your heart telling you that there is more you can do.  It might seem like a gross over-rationalization, but I argue that by reading, you can do something to change the state of the world.

Obviously non-fiction seems like a good place to start when talking about books that can lead to social  change.  And to be sure there are plenty of thoughtful, passionately argued non-fiction books that can lead to greater insights about the issues of human rights and justice.  Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen is an example of non-fiction that is both informational and emotional.  But what about those of us that prefer fiction?  Well I say that sometimes, fiction is the best way to highlight social issues.  Fictional narratives on the scale of A Thousand Splendid Suns do more than tell us the facts and figures about oppression-they allow us for a period of time to live the lives of those affected by injustice.  They give us a cultural context for the what we see on the news.  And making connections with characters that lead such seemingly different lives can bring home to us just how similar the human experience is, regardless of place or time.

So, what should you be reading?  I've added a new page to the blog, where I've listed some recommendations of books that I have read or read enough about that I can attest to their worth.  If anyone has other titles, just put them in the comments.  All of the blurbs come from Goodreads or Amazon.  Some of them are difficult to read, some are joyful and uplifting, but all highlight issues affecting people somewhere in the world.  As that prolific author Anonymous said, "Nobody's free until everybody's free."

Happy Tuesday

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

"Yeah, a beer," he said, rubbing a hand over his bearded chin. "It's hot. I was thirsty. Thought maybe you'd like to join me..."

"You? You want me to have a beer with you?" she repeated, her hand darting back and forth between the two of them in a nervous fit.

(Pg 14, Beautiful Disaster by Laura Spinella)

---

•Tillykke med fodselsdagen! (Danish)
•Happy Birthday! (English)
•Bonne Fete! (French)
•Haerzliche Glueckwuensche zum Geburtstag! (German)
•Hau`oli la hanau! (Hawaiian)
•Buon Compleanno! (Italian)
•お誕生日おめでとうございます(Japanese)
•생일축하합니다 (Korean)
•Fortuna dies natalis! (Latin)
•生日快乐! (Mandarin)
•Gratulerer med dagen! (Norwegian)
•Parabens! (Portuguese)
•Feliz Cumpleanos! (Spanish)
•Chuc Mung Sinh Nhat! (Vietnamese)

Today is my birthday; I can't believe it is another year again. How time flies!

I celebrated my birthday with my family during the weekend, so today will be like any other ordinary day to me since it is a working day for me (there is an important meeting in the office today and my superior wanted me to be around, which is fine with me).

Well I hope everyone has a great day today! Just another four more days to go and it'd be Christmas!

2011 Reading Challenges

This year, I have participated in a few reading challenges and I am ashamed to say I have completed only one or two challenges so far. As much as I love reading challenges, I am afraid that next year will be a year for my TBR pile. I need to get through those before they get way out of hand (which I am sure many of you would be able to relate to, right? Anyway, I'm giving up on the remaining challenges I signed up for this year since there is no way I am able to complete them at this point... sigh.) Still, that doesn’t mean that I won’t be participating in any reading challenges so here’s a few which I am participating in 2011:

2011 YA Reading Challenge (January 1st – December 31st)
I chose Option “Mini YA” where I need to read 12 YA novels. There is no need for a list so my choice will depend on my mood then.

2011 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge (January 1st – December 31st)
I chose “Level 1” where I need to read 5 books from the 2010 Book Blogger Recommendation List. My choice is as follows:

1) Juliet by Anne Fortier
2) Room by Emma Donaghue
3) Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
4) Personal Demons - Lisa Desrochers
5) Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

The TBR Dare (January 1st – April 1st)
Of course I wouldn't want to turn this down, after all this is another good excuse for me to clear those piles away. For this, I pledge to read as many books from my TBR pile till the last day of the dare.

What about you? Which 2011 reading challenges are you participating?

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page where readers get to share the books that came into their house last week; this month the host for Mailbox Monday is Jenny Q of Let Them Read Books.

Here's what I received last week:

1) Beautiful Disaster by Laura Spinella (from the publicist)

2) The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney (from the publicist)

What books came into your house last week?

Books Read in 2010

Here's a list of the books that I read in 2010:

January
1. Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto
2. Mia the Magnificent by Eileen Boggess (review copy)
3. The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
4. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
5. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (Graphic Novel)
6. Dying Scream by Mary Burton (review copy)

February
7. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
8. Blankets by Craig Thompson
9. Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy (review copy)
10. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

March
11. Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James (review copy)
12. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
13. All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab
14. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
15. The Worst of Me by Kate Le Vann

April
16. Strobe Edge #7 by Io Sakisaka (Manga)
17. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
18. Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight (review copy)
19. Midori by Moonlight by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
20. Magnolia Wednesdays by Wendy Wax (review copy)
21. A Law of Attraction Book for Children: The S.T.A.R. Powered Twins by Dorothy A. Lecours (review copy)
22. Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills
23. Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa
24. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

May
25. The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin
26. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
27. On Folly Beach by Karen White (review copy)
28. Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

June
29. Eric by Shaun Tan
30. Hate List by Jennifer Brown
31. Half World by Hiromi Goto
32. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
33. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
34. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
35. Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick
36. Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles
37. And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle
38. Faithful Place by Tana French

July
39. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
40 & 41. Stepping On Roses Vol. 1 & 2 by Rinko Ueda (Manga)
42. Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss
43. You're the One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter

August
44. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
45. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
46. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
47. Everlasting by Angie Frazier
48. 爱の真实 - 单飞雪著
49. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

September
50. Sleepless by Cyn Balog
51. Gone by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
52. Stepping On Roses Vol. 3 by Rinko Ueda (Manga)
53. 我的爱如此麻辣 - 张小娴
54. The Big Ten of Grammar: Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors by William B. Bradshaw (review copy)

October
55. Killing Floor by Lee Child
56. Bobo's Daughter by Bonnie Barnett (review copy)
57. Forget You by Jennifer Echols
58. 告白〔漫画版〕- 湊佳苗 Confession by Kanae Minato (Manga)
59. The Patterns of Paper Monsters by Emma Rathbone
60. Falling Home by Karen White (review copy)

November
61. For the Love of Strangers by Jacqueline Horsfall (review copy)
62. The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda
63. A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
64. Adventures of Rusty and Ginger Fox by Tim Ostermeyer (review copy)
65. Ruthless by Anne Stuart

December
66. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
67. Not That Kind Of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
68 & 69. Stepping On Roses Vol. 4 & 5 by Rinko Ueda (Manga)
70. Girl, Stolen by April Henry

71. Beautiful Disaster by Laura Spinella (review copy)

72. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

73. 续杯爱 - 橙诺

You Can't Judge a Book By Its Title

I admit it-I am a romance novel snob.  Not in a only-the-best-romance-writer-for-me kind of way, but in a I-can't believe-anyone-reads-this-drivel way.  While I am not trying to imply anything about the relative maturity of readers of romance novels (after all, some of my best friends are romance readers), I haven't really enjoyed a romance novel since I was about 19.  I'm not anti-romance in general-I like a good literary love story.  But genre romance novels leave me pretty cold.

So it was with some trepidation that I agreed to read The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton.  I mean, that title!  Isn't there something inherently cheesy about any phrase that ends with "of love".  Think Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News.  Major cheesefest!  And the publisher's blurb wasn't much help...
,

A warm and uplifting story of how a woman falls in love with a place and its people: a landscape, a community and a fragile way of life. A rural idyll: that's what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and moves to a tiny hamlet in the Cevennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free to make a new start, and her dream is to set up in business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you're no longer just here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol.

Sounds like a formula romance novel, right?  But I read it, and here are the two reasons why-

• it was free
• it was British

Yep, I'm a cheap date sometimes. 

Lucky for me, you can't always judge a book by its title.  The publisher did this one an injustice in the blurb making it seems as though the romance was the central story.  What Thornton wrote is a novel about a woman transitioning from one stage of her adulthood to another.  It is not a love story in the strictest sense of the word, but a story about the many loves that surround us-love of self, love for family, love for community, and, yes, love of a partner.

I found the book charming.  The descriptions of the Cevennes region of France evoked a slowed down, quiet pace of life that I found myself envying.  But not everything was perfect in Catherine's new world-the French government and their bureaucracy being the most obvious example.  Her plan upon moving to France was to start a small custom needlepoint/soft furniture business (hence the tapestry of the title).  She runs up against the French prohibition of any non-farming business opening within Cevennes National Parc.  Questioning her place in France, she is drawn back to England in the wake of her mother's death, ultimately forcing her to choose where she feels she belongs.  And yes, she was eventually forced to confront the feelings she had developed for the Patrick Castagnol mentioned in the publisher's blurb.  But the romance is only one aspect of the larger story of a woman choosing her own path.  And frankly, in the time that she has lived alone, first in England after her children went away to school and then in France, she has grown accustomed to her independence and peace.  The resolution is one that I think is more realistic and less simplistic than a lot of love stories turn out to be.  Which is just fine by me.

Cevennes Mountains, France

What Catherine's rural idyll make have looked like

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

ISBN-13: 9780805090055
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: September 2010
224 pgs
Source: Personal Library

Please let me go. I won't tell.

I am sure many of you may have read about a kidnapping story in one time or another, but have you ever read about the victim who is blind? I haven't, and that is why I find Girl, Stolen is so refreshing. Reading Girl, Stolen reminds me a little of a great story I read in June 2009; that title is Stolen by Lucy Christopher (one of my favourite (and best) reads for last year!). Stolen is about the journey and the relationship between a kidnapped girl and her captor as they travel along the Australian outback. It is a very character-driven story, filled with lots of emotional intense than anything. There is also something very disturbing about the story having the victim sympathised and feeling for the captor towards the end, but yet you couldn't help reading it. Lucy Christopher's prose and style is that wonderful!

Anyway, I have seen some reviews comparing this with Stolen and I can totally understand why as both have the same kidnapping theme, but what makes this story stood out is the heroine is a blind girl who have to rely on her cane or her guide dog through her daily life. Cheyenne Wilder is kidnapped while waiting in the backseat of her stepmother's car. Actually her kidnapper, a boy named Griffin didn't mean to kidnap her in the first place; he saw the car keys dangling in the ignition and decided to steal the car away, not stopping to check if there is anyone in the car. He is thinking that his stealing a Cadillac Escalade would make his father very happy, after all his father too steal cars and they would sell the car parts or replace the VIN numbers before selling off the vehicles again. Unfortunately he did not know of the complexity and the consequences about stealing a girl with the car too, and before he realised his mistake it was all too late.

Having no choice, he turns Cheyenne to his father once they are back into his house. Afterwards when Roy, Griffin's father learnt that Cheyenne is the daughter of Nike president, he decided to hold her captive and demand for a ransom. Before this happened, the relationship between Griffin and his father has never been good, but Griffin tolerate his father's hurling insults and abusive behaviour since his mother walked out of his life when he was young. He has no one to turn to, and he has no choice, so to speak. And after Cheyenne steps into his family and into his life, his attitude towards his stinking life has somewhat changed after witnessing her determination and courage to escape from their grasp. In the end, he decided to become her protector and accomplice for her escape. But of course I am not going to tell you anything beyond that, so let's just say this has been an intense reading experience for me.

Now that I have read Girl, Stolen, I felt that the plot and the style is very different from Stolen, despite that they share the same theme - kidnapping. Both of the emotional intense are wonderfully built, but their approach (direction) is different. Also, I find the thrill of this story is focused more on the escape than the relationship between the captor and the captive, while Stolen is leaning more towards the latter. Both are compelling read with a different reading experience, thus I cannot say which is better but if you are going for the thrill and suspense, Girl, Stolen will be it.

Wordless Wednesday

A collage of some Christmas cakes we had over the last three years.

What Am I Looking Forward To in 2011?-Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is one I thought I was going to have to skip-Most Anticipated Books of 2011.  Cuz here's the thing-I don't really keep up with the publishing world AT ALL.  Thinking on it that seems strange for a book blogger and voracious reader.  Shouldn't I know what my favorite authors are doing, or what the critics are saying about what my favorite authors are doing, or what new favorite authors of mine are out there waiting for me to discover them?

What keeps me from doing more to keep my finger on the pulse of the publishing world?  Aside from time, I'd say the most influential factors is the 500 books in my waiting-to-be-read room.

Yes, I said 500 books in my TBR room.  Some bloggers have a TBR pile or a TBR shelf, I have an entire room.  This stems from the many years that my mother, retired in Michigan with nothing but time for reading, gave me all of her books.  At 5-7 a week, that adds up quickly.  Since I average about a book or two a week in a normal year, there is no way I can keep up.  Mind you, I'm not complaining-who doesn't love free books?  Ditto almost free books!  When I discovered Goodreads bookswap I was over the moon!  You mean, I can clear my shelves of all but the few books I want to keep after reading, and get receive frequent gifts of reading in the mail for just the price of postage?  I'm in!

So, not one of the books on my Top Ten this week will be published in 2011.  Most of them weren't published in 2010.  But they are the books I am looking forward to reading this year nevertheless.

1.  Under the Dome, Stephen King

Normally when I get a new Stephen King book I devour it immediately.  However, I signed up for the 100 Book Challenge this year, and at over 1000 pages I knew that it would take me longer than normal.  I was into slim volumes this year!  With the challenge soon over (and me still 10 books away from the goal-grrr), I plan to pick it up right after the new year.

2.  Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie

For years I've been telling myself I was going to give Rushdie a try, and the whole fatwa thing makes this novel the obvious choice for me.  I also have The Moor's Last Sigh in mt room, but we'll see how I feel about Satanic Verses first.

3.  Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger

I've had this book on my shelves for a while now, and the plain truth is that I love The Time Traveller's Wife so much I'm afraid that this will be a disappointment.  But I've put it off too long-especially since my copy happens to be borrowed from my best friend.  She loves me and all, but eventually she'll start giving me those looks-you know those looks!

4.  You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know, Heather Sellers

This one just came out in October, and I lucked into an ARC on bookswap.  It's about a woman who has face blindness, and doesn't remember people's facial features.  The very idea of living your life never recognizing anyone is fascinating and terrifying!

5.  The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff

Ordinarily I stay away from books that are made into Lifetime movies, but this title sounds too interesting to pass up.  The story of a modern day murder in a polygamous community, tied with a mystery from the past.  I'm a little bit obsessed with the whole polygamy thing, in a train-wreck sort of way.  And according to the reviews I read of the movie, Lifetime actually made a movie that didn't suck!

6.  Room, Emma Donaghue

My book club has a rule that we will only read books that have come out in paperback.  With the many good books out there, sticking to that rule has never been a problem-until Room came out.  But being teachers, we have to stick to the rules!

7.  Kindred, Octavia Butler

I just finished her Patternist series, and I'm ready to read what many say is her best book.  Considering I've pretty much universally enjoyed her books, I think that's a safe bet regardless.

8.  My Fair Lazy, Jen Lancaster

I've got this rather strange notion in my head that Jen Lancaster and I are meant to be friends.  Like I'll be walking in the city one day, and there she'll be coming out of Macy's or something, and we'll strike up a conversation, which she will find so fascinating that she will ask me to lunch, and we will end up at Uncle Julio's downing margaritas and dishing on the latest gossip.  I know, it's a sickness.

9.  People of the Book,  Geraldine Brooks

I actually thought I would read this in 2010, but when I requested it from bookswap I didn't realize it was an audiobook.  I don't really do audiobooks-it feels like cheating.  Well, I don't really do audiobooks, except for ones written by celebrities and read by celebrities, which brings me to...

10.  Life, by Keith Richards

Aside from what I'm sure will be a really interesting story, the audiobook is read by Johnny Depp.  I mean, come one!