I really want to read this book!
The latest Murakami
For my guilty pleasure reading
The only in this series I haven’t read yet. (and the I can pass it on to my brother as he is reading the series too!)
Updated to add:
Can’t believe I forgot to put this on my list!!!
Oh and this:
I really enjoyed a short history of nearly everything and this one is just up my alley!
What’s on your wish list for this year?
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?
The Book Blogger Holiday Swop!
Love this.
Luckily, I found it in time, I have been so busy that I have barely had time to check my emails… But I remembered to check in time if the forms were up:-)
So, how it works is, you get assigned a secret santa, a fellow book blogger and wallah, you send each other gifts through the post. The joy is finding something for someone you don’t know and wonder if you will like them…
Here’s to the beginning of the season to be merry! Watch out for my book wish list, coming soon…
with a difference.
I originally had this idea after participating in Laura‘s gift swop which I am sure that whoever joined in, loved the anticipation of receiving a parcel in the post and the suspense of what Might be in the parcel was just as lovely as the receiving of the gift. I also thoroughly enjoyed deciding on What to put in the parcel for someone that I had never met, though trying to pick the perfect gift was a lot harder than if it was for someone you knew.
Anyway, as you can clearly see, I loved it and so I have decided to do something similar here. But this time we will know what the gift will be, it will be a book. But not just any book (buying a book for someone you know can be difficult in itself, but for a stranger, a whole lot more challenging!)
So, here’s the deal. The book that you send as a gift MUST be your favourite all time novel. And we wont be pairing people up either, basically how it will work is:
1)You leave a comment stating wether you are willing to post internationally or not, just put in brackets – (INT) OR (NOT INT) together with your name and email so we can contact you. Your commenting automatically places you as a participant.
2) The person who comments next will receive your favourite book in the post – PLEASE don’t tell us what it is, that at least will be a surprise!
3)So, it doesn’t matter if there is an odd amount of people taking part because each commenter will receive a book from the previous commenter. The last commenter will send a book gift to the first commenter.
4) Anyone can participate, you do not need to have a blog, just a postal address and email in order to contact you and let you know the details of the person you are sending it to.
5) You must be committed to participating if you leave a comment
6) The closing date for all comments will be on the 25th October and you will have two weeks to send your book out. All books must be posted by the very latest on the 8th November. If you are posting internationally, all books MUST be posted by the 1st November.
7) This way, everyone gets a book that is at least one persons favourite favourite. You may not have read it before or even know the author,but this in itself is a gift as you may discover something you have never heard of before.
8) Books DO NOT need to be new, gently read and second hand is great, but please ensure that it is still in a good reading condition. There is something pleasant about reading a book that has already been read, but not if it is in terrible condition!
9) Spread the word and get commenting. Everyone will receive the details of who they need to post to by 12am 26th October.
10) Last of all, have fun!!
I unfortunately am not taking part in the literary blog hop but if any of you are looking for new book blogs to read check out Lee Swammes’ blog for a list of participating blogs.
Have fun hopping!
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!
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?
I don’t know about you, but I often have two or more books on the go at the same time. Reading one during kiddy nap time and the other for bedtime reading, so it was when I discovered Love in a Headscarf at the library while already reading The God Delusion. And I have to say, that it was interesting reading the two in tandem. On one side I had Richard Dawkins telling me how God does not exist and the reasons therefore and on the other hand, I have Shelina Zahra Janmohamed telling me how she believes that God does exist. It made for interesting reading viewpoints;-)
But, both books were equaly interesting and enjoyable to read. I am interested in other peoples religions, not overly so, but when you combine a real life story about a British Muslim looking for a husband via an arranged marriage and all that goes with it, together with a fabulous writing style, I was hooked. It was captivating to read about the ins and outs of arranged marriages and how the entire family becomes involved. But in this particular case, the parents were highly supportive of their daughter and who she chose/was chosen by which helped matters. This story begs to be read to open the ‘westerners’ eyes on how the Muslim arranged marriage system works. It was a beautiful book, and I highly recommend it.
The God Delusion makes for interesting reading too. Richard Dawkins makes many valid points as to WHY God does not exist. I enjoyed reading it. I quite enjoy the two opinions on God. The reasons as to why He does exist is almost fantastical whereas the reasons why He does not exist is almost as fantastical as the opposite. If you are having a crisis of faith, this is a good book to ‘give both sides of the story’ so to speak. I do agree with many points that he brings across but I think that God is a belief thing, and each to his own.
Have you read it? What did you think? I would be very interested to know:-)
(currently I am reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I know I am about a year late than the rest of the world in reading it, but am thoroughly enjoying it and looking forward to posting my thoughts once I have finished)
Last but not least, what are you currently reading?
I was approached by Emma who is a writer for Accreditedonlinecolleges.com and she mentioned an article which might interest the readers of this blog. I had a look and had to say that it was rather interesting.
So, I have reposted it here, please let me know what you think! You can check out the rest of her blog here.
image from here
Reading is a solitary act, but the love of books is social…(so true!)
After all, who hasn’t experienced a great book that made them want to rush out and share their love of the novel with others? It is from this love of books that book clubs were formed, with book club origins tracing back to the 1700s. The modern book club was popularized by Oprah Winfrey, and has grown to enjoy widespread use today. Online book clubs have even popped up, using social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter for virtual gatherings and book discussions in lieu of club meetings.
Social media isn’t just for book clubs that want to live online — it’s for clubs that meet in person, too. Using social media tools can bring your book club into the modern age, with collaboration, networking, author connections, and so much more. Read on to find out what social media can do to improve your book club.
If you would like to check out the original article, please go here. Thanks Emma, this was interesting to read!
25 October.
3 months to go and then the new Haruki Murakami novel, 1Q84, will be published in English. Be still my beating heart! It is being published in two volumes, the first of 500 odd pages and the second of 250 odd. Ooh, something to get my teeth stuck into. It is rumoured to be his Magnus Opus and I am extremely excited to read it.
I thoroughly enjoyed Kafka on the Shore and have read most of what has been translated into English. A Wild Sheep Chase is also a particularly good one.
Check out Wikipedia for all the details, story line and publishers. I just wanted to share the exciting news with you all.
So who is counting down the days?
(or wished they could read Japanese??)