Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
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Review- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Ever since I read a Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami, I fell in love with his surreal and slightly bizarre writing. I have read most of his books and when Kafka on the shore came out a couple of years ago, I wolfed it down, it was definitely one of my favourites.Then I found this one in one my favourite book shops where they were having a massive sale, couldn’t remember if I had read it or not so decided to purchase it nonetheless. My thinking being that if I had already read it, I could give it as a Christmas present to someone. And, I hadn’t read it!
Murakami has a talent of writing about the world beyond our own world. Where strange things happen, that could make no sense whatsoever but wrapped together in a story in the real world somehow just does.
In The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, our main character begins to experience things which are slightly off character beginning with the cat that dissapeared, and then his wife dissapears. The story is about how he tries to find his wife and the rather strange characters he comes into contact with during his search.
I love how he connects even the most random story-well, one might feel it is random as one reads, in with the main story. How ones fate is written in stone, and no matter what decision is taken, it still leads back to where they are supposed to be.
I really enjoyed this book and if you are a Murakami fan, you should definitely enjoy it too.
Have you read any Murakami? Do you enjoy his writing?
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Review:Love in the time of Cholera- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I received this book through the book swap that was done here at The Book Club Blog and my person who sent it to me, Cat, told me it is her favourite Love Story of all time, and one of her favourite books sitting at no 3.
I have never read him before, so when I found this book in my parcel, I did feel a little daunted but also pleased, because if there was any one reason why I would read this book, it would be because I received it as a gift. And I did read it, it took me longer to read than normal, but I put that down to an extremely hectic last month and severe lack of reading time (about 20minutes at bed time each night) and I enjoyed it.
It definitely is not my usual genre and as I said, felt a bit daunted by it, but it had an interesting story, I did find it a bit bizarre – for those of you who have read it- about how one man can ‘not’ live his life because of one day getting the love of his life. But I think that is probably just my pessimistic side coming out. The ending was lovely and sad at the same time and just makes you realise how short life really is. And compare it to my favourite love story ever Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins it is a world apart but yet quite similar. The theme being trying to find eternal life in order to love for longer. You would have to read the books and come to your own conclusions.
I can honestly say that I enjoyed Love in the time of Cholera but it doesn’t beat Jitterbug Perfume in the love story department!
Have you read both, what did you think?
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3 reviews in one
I have had a good run of books lately, which is a little surprising as sometimes, I just can’t get into a book or a book is readable, but nothing fantastic, but recently read three books which I have thoroughly enjoyed.
The Housekeeper and the professor – Yoko Ogawa
This is a lovely book, it is an easy read though full of mathematical equations which I have to admit to having gone slightly over my head. A maths professor with a short term memory of only 80 minutes. A young housekeeper and her ten year old son. And the blossoming friendship between the three. The peculiarities of having to reintroduce themselves each morning, the maths riddles based on her shoe size or her birthday, and the numbers, which forges a bond which is more mysterious than imaginary numbers but runs deeper than memory.
A beautiful story!
Farenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Wow, this is a phenomenal book! It has been on my list of books to read for about 2 years, and by chance I found it in a bookshop which was having a clear out sale and bought it for R10! A very well worth R10 spend! A dystopian novel about how in a distant future, books are burnt and life is lived via 4 walls of television. It is a scary look at a technical age where books have no place, and life has no place in life. I recommend any one to read this, who has any sort of love for books. Truly, I could not put it down.A life in pieces – Richard K Baer
Oh my goodness, this was a harrowing read. It was incredible, amazing, fascinating and horrific. A true story about a woman with 17 multiple personalities due to severe trauma and abuse as a child. And I swear, every mother should read this book, just to make sure that they are aware of what is out there, so we don’t get complacent. So we make sure that we keep an eye out for changes in personalities. I really was horrified by what happened to this woman as a child, that people could actually be as monstrous as they were. Awful, but in the end , amazing how even though she has different personalities, she is still wanting to heal herself and this book takes us through what happened, over ten years! Truly incredible. ( I stayed up until 12.30am one night because I was absolutely fascinated…)Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them?
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Committed – Elizabeth Gilbert a review
I thoroughly enjoyed Eat Pray Love and have been wanting to read Committed for a while now. Even though listening to other peoples opinions of the book, saying its nothing like her bestseller and not as good, I still wanted to read it. And now I have.
And even though, other peoples opinions were correct in saying that it was nothing like her bestseller, I enjoyed it. I am not a huge marriage person. I have never coveted the big white wedding, the whole idea of marriage just makes me squirm so it was almost revelatory that someone else was even more squirmish of marriage than I was!
It was interesting in that she really delves into the history of the institute of marriage. How it came about and at the end how she makes peace with it and marries for the second time. I think if you are in any way interested in the whole marriage thing, you will enjoy this book though bear in mind, that it is nothing like Eat Pray Love! Even I could possibly, get married, after reading this book.
And now, what next to read, I really do need some recommendations, please!
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The Help – Kathryn Stockett – review
Ok, so I think I was probably one of the last people on the planet to read this book, yes about a year after it had hit every one elses book shelf, it hit mine and here is my verdict…I really enjoyed it! I thought it was extremely well written on a sensitive subject. The characters were brought to life and you could feel the emotions tugging at your insides as you read the book. I think as a mother too, it made it even more emotional because the way one of the characters treated her daughter was just too heartbreaking and could see the emotional effect it would later have on her.
One thing which I have always found peculiar with racism and nanny’s is that, it was/is perfectly fine for ladies of colour to feed, clothe and look after your child without passing on any ‘disease’ but share a toilet and hell couldn’t be worse. I have never understood it and probably never will.
I think this was a book that needed to be written and I am glad that I have read it.
Have you?
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Need something to read?
MY MOTHER KILLED CHRIST BUT GOD LOVES ME ANYWAY-Katie Roberta StevensSent in by Katie Rickert
The title of this book caught my attention because it was a bit shocking. However, after reading the Amazon description I was intrigued. When I read the Prologue, I was hooked. The writing was so powerful, I had to put the book down to catch my breath. It’s the story of a girl raised by a mentally ill mother who thought she killed Christ. But it is an inspiring, uplifting book.
This was the first time in 20 years that I read a book so well-written that I could not put it down and go to bed. The beginning is tough to read, but in the middle I was laughing out loud. By the end, I didn’t want it to be over. The only bad part about the book was that it was over.
I highly recommend this book. The writing was breathtaking.
Thanks Katie, for sending in the review,I have to admit to being very intrigued to read this book, the name, the review, so if any one else has read it, I would love to know if you found it as good as Katie did. This book only seems to be available on Kindle at the moment, so those of you with Kindles, go get yourself a new book to read!
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The Manservant Mysteries Give Away!
So, a little birdy told me about a new South African author who resides in Pretoria and has just recently published his first book. Yep, you guessed it, its called The Manservant Mysteries and it is written by Lee Herrmann. I was lucky enough to receive a book sent to me kindly from his publisher and I have just finished reading it and now, I get to tell you all about it:-)
Inspector Beauregard Pilkington is a retired Scotland yard detective. He and his loyal manservant Marmaduke are invited for a weekend away at an old friend’s summer retreat and while there, is called apon to solve a murder. This book is humerous and engaging. It is a short and easy read and as the back cover says: ‘And absurdly funny mystery that involves a detective. His Manservant . And an African Nile parrot’.
And a little about the author…
Lee Herrmann was born and raised in South Africa. He has been heavily influenced by comic books, movies, television and popular culture over the years and finally decided to make his ideas a reality with this book. He originally conceived the characters as a radio serial titled Murder in the Morning at the University of Pretoria while working on the breakfast show at the campus radio station TuksFM (2001-2003). The adventures were wildly popular and Lee knew he would make use of them again someday. He has a varied writing background and has experience in copywriting, writing for web, radio and magazines. Hopefully this is the start of many more adventures to come. And yes, hopefully it is just the start as I really enjoyed his first one!
Lee lives in Pretoria with his wife Dina and son, Max and can be found going to the movies every Saturday night with his friend Steve-Dave.
And just to end off this Fabulous Saturday, I have one copy of The Manservant Mysteries to give away. Yes, to you, my loyal readers all you need to do is leave a comment in the comments section telling me when you had to be detective like… in any way shape or form. From sneaking out when you were a teenager to solving the mystery of who ate the last chocolate biscuit which you were certain was left in the biscuit tin…I will get a third party to read through them and the most absurdly funny comment will win! Winner will be announced on Saturday 17th June.
This offer is unfortunately not international, keeping it within South Africa! Good luck and happy commenting!
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The Five People you meet in Heaven – Review
I LOVED this book. Out of Mitch Albom’s three books that I have read ‘Tuesday’s with Morrie’ and ‘For One More Day’ this is by far my favourite!‘All endings are beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time…’
This is a book about death. This is a book about Eddie’s death and Eddie’s life. And the five people that he meets in Heaven. These five people explain Eddie’s life to him and why certain things occured or why they did not.
It is a beautiful book. It offers solace and hope without being cheesy. It offers a simple explanation and a different way of looking at death. It had me in tears twice with joy and with sadness, both emotions in one heart, the tears had to leak out somewhere!
It also made me think about my life and about my choices. About what we consider to be set in stone for one reason or another. It broke through my defences, this little book.
I enjoyed it so much, I think everyone should read it. From hardened cynic to the most spiritually aware person.
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Ants in the Big Onion Give Away!
I received my copy of Ants in the Big Onion last Monday and I finished it on Thursday. Yes, it was that good. The best bit? Smaller print than normal, which means… more to read!
May and Annica run a B&B called the Fox ‘n Zulu in Meyerton (Which is a small town lying 15 km north of Vereeniging in Gauteng, South Africa- just in case you were wondering- I did) and it details all the trials and tribulations of the group of individuals which live there.
You get to re meet some of the original characters and if you were wondering where some of them had got to and how on earth May and Annica came to be running a B& B, don’t fret, it will all be explained in the first couple of pages.
It is hilarious! The characters had me giggling at their antics and gasping at some, but really what else can happen when you throw a bunch of unique individuals into a small abode, oh and a lonely snake.
As it says on the back cover: “Ants… is enough to taunt every cultural perception and strain even the most enduring friendship, but all visitors check in for a bakkieload of laughs.”
And so, seeing as though its the end of the world and all, I have a give away of one copy of Ants in the Big Onion and it is open to every one. Yes, you read correctly and Yes, because that’s what we are like over here at The Book Club Blog, feeling the love and giving it back…
So, to enter:
1) jot something down in the comments section and tell me what your favourite book of all time is.
2) follow us on twitter @thebookclubblog.
3) like us on Facebook. I will then get random.org to choose a winner next Saturday the 28th (that’s if we are still all here…;-)) and I will announce the lucky person.
Good luck and happy commenting!
Ants Give away!Open worldwide!
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Sepulchre – Kate Mosse book review
I recently borrowed this book from a friend of mine after reading the back cover and becoming intrigued by the story line. I have to admit to not wanting to put it down. One of those books that you keep reading late into the night even though you have a 5.30am start- and don’t want to end. I think some people may be put off by the whole ‘demon’ side of things, but to me it was just fascinating and very readable. I loved how she combined two stories in one and brought the family line from then until now. How secrets of the past can change a future of a person and the amount of superstition that can be inherent in people.
Meredith is not superstitious at all and I love how her candid no-nonsense attitude is contrasted by the 19th century Leonie.
If you enjoy this sort of thing, I highly recomend it!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had drama, intrigue, a love story and secrets. Just what one expects of a good story book. Here is the excerpt from the back cover:
In 1891, young Léonie Vernier and her brother Anatole arrive in the beautiful town of Rennes-les-Bains, in southwest France. They’ve come at the invitation of their widowed aunt, whose mountain estate, Domain de la Cade, is famous in the region. But it soon becomes clear that their aunt Isolde—and the Domain—are not what Léonie had imagined. The villagers claim that Isolde’s late husband died after summoning a demon from the old Visigoth sepulchre high on the mountainside. A book from the Domain’s cavernous library describes the strange tarot pack that mysteriously disappeared following the uncle’s death. But while Léonie delves deeper into the ancient mysteries of the Domain, a different evil stalks her family—one which may explain why Léonie and Anatole were invited to the sinister Domain in the first place.
More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennes-les-Bains, Meredith checks into a grand old hotel—the Domain de la Cade. Something about the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin to haunt Meredith’s waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by Léonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American’s fate . . . just as they did to the fate of Léonie Vernier more than a century earlier.
To order a copy,just click on the book cover and it will take you straight to Kalahari.net
Happy Reading!
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