By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
This is the story of a real person, Kamila Sidiqi, who, with the rise of the Taliban and along with all other Kabul girls, was forced out of school and into taking care of their family. Without leaving the house, mind you. Not an easy task. Life during those 5-6 years of Taliban rule was not easy, but this girl and her sisters were extremely resourceful. It was nice reading a book that is not fiction, but which has such an amazing character and scene descriptions. Makes me think that I should also take a non-fiction writing class.
Link to book.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
This book was much better than I expected. I love cats, but somehow, when I first saw the book in My Little Library (those neighborhood boxes where you can exchanged books), I thought "Wow, this looks interesting, and a little corny." It turned out to be quite good. I was especially impressed by the introduction, which I read long before I actually started the book. But as I kept reading, I fell more and more in love with the cat. He is simply adorable. Eventually I felt like I didn't want to reach the end, because that means Dewey dies. Yes, he indeed died, but it still is a wonderful story. Sometimes it felt like Vicki talks more about her life than Dewey, but somehow it still seemed appropriate. And Dewey (perhaps conciously, to avoid criticism such as this) was always brought back again when it felt like he's been out of the picture for a tad too long. My favorite Dewey picture is the one at the head of Chapter 17: Dewey and the Modern World. He's sitting on top of a computer monitor and the expression on his face is simply priceless.
Link to book
Link to a video about Dewey and Tom (another Iowa cat)
This book was much better than I expected. I love cats, but somehow, when I first saw the book in My Little Library (those neighborhood boxes where you can exchanged books), I thought "Wow, this looks interesting, and a little corny." It turned out to be quite good. I was especially impressed by the introduction, which I read long before I actually started the book. But as I kept reading, I fell more and more in love with the cat. He is simply adorable. Eventually I felt like I didn't want to reach the end, because that means Dewey dies. Yes, he indeed died, but it still is a wonderful story. Sometimes it felt like Vicki talks more about her life than Dewey, but somehow it still seemed appropriate. And Dewey (perhaps conciously, to avoid criticism such as this) was always brought back again when it felt like he's been out of the picture for a tad too long. My favorite Dewey picture is the one at the head of Chapter 17: Dewey and the Modern World. He's sitting on top of a computer monitor and the expression on his face is simply priceless.
Link to book
Link to a video about Dewey and Tom (another Iowa cat)
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Winesburg, Ohio
By Sherwood Anderson
A collection of short stories that form a sort of a novel. The stories are somewhat connected by one of the characters, but mostly they are connected by themes. Some of them are very nice, others I found a bit lacking.
book link here
A collection of short stories that form a sort of a novel. The stories are somewhat connected by one of the characters, but mostly they are connected by themes. Some of them are very nice, others I found a bit lacking.
book link here
Thursday, December 18, 2014
The Private Lives of Trees
By Alejandro Zambra
A short, interesting novel about a guy who tells the daughter of his wife a story about the private lives of trees, while his wife is not coming home from work. [98 pp.]
Link to book
A short, interesting novel about a guy who tells the daughter of his wife a story about the private lives of trees, while his wife is not coming home from work. [98 pp.]
Link to book
Friday, November 21, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Woodcutters
By Thomas Bernhard
A 181-page paragraph describing the thoughts of the narrator as he sits in his chair at an "artistic party" in Vienna of the 1980s. It is actually more interesting than it might sound, because there is a lot of tension between the narrator and the rest of the party, especially the host and some of the guests. They were all friends back in the '50s, and perhaps more than friends, and now they were partying and awaiting the guest of honor, a famous theater actor, after they buried another friend. Though I liked the story, and it seemed like it would be interesting to read more of this author's stories, I felt like I didn't want to handle another single-paragraph narratives right now, which seem to be the typical style of this author.
Book link
A 181-page paragraph describing the thoughts of the narrator as he sits in his chair at an "artistic party" in Vienna of the 1980s. It is actually more interesting than it might sound, because there is a lot of tension between the narrator and the rest of the party, especially the host and some of the guests. They were all friends back in the '50s, and perhaps more than friends, and now they were partying and awaiting the guest of honor, a famous theater actor, after they buried another friend. Though I liked the story, and it seemed like it would be interesting to read more of this author's stories, I felt like I didn't want to handle another single-paragraph narratives right now, which seem to be the typical style of this author.
Book link
Saturday, September 13, 2014
The Gap Year
By Sarah Bird
A story told from the points of view of mother and daughter, chronicling their lives about one year apart, during the most difficult period in their relationship. The mother is excited for her daughter to go to college, but the daughter doesn't really want to go, she'd rather stay in the suburb her mother so despises. Both think the other will not understand, and spend the year with a huge gap in communication. [320 pp.].
Booklink
A story told from the points of view of mother and daughter, chronicling their lives about one year apart, during the most difficult period in their relationship. The mother is excited for her daughter to go to college, but the daughter doesn't really want to go, she'd rather stay in the suburb her mother so despises. Both think the other will not understand, and spend the year with a huge gap in communication. [320 pp.].
Booklink
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
