Thursday, September 27, 2007

Summer Reading

Hi All,

To give the blog a new purpose and hopefully get people commenting, I thought I'd start a new post on what everyone read over the summer.

1 comment:

trishp said...

I always find I tend to read more when I go on holidays and this year was no different with me getting through four books in a week on my holiday in sunny Skiathos.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was a very clever story narrated by death during World War II in Nazi Germany. He tells the story of Liesel Meminger who finds comfort in stolen books. The strong, likeable characters and interesting storyline make for an enjoyable book. Would recommend this book to everyone. I'm not a fan of war books but this one is more about the characters and the story with the war as a backdrop.

I also read Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It is her debut novel. We read the follow-up Half of a Yellow Sun last month. Chimamanda is a talented author writing about her homeland of Nigeria. It is a story about a 15-year-old girl growing up with a father who uses his new found religion of catholism to the point where it harms his family. They get a reprieve from this hard existence when they go to stay with their liberated aunt where they get to know their fathers family and ultimately learn to question their fathers ways.

Another novel that was highly recommended over the summer in all the bookshops was The Memory-Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. A story of a doctor who makes a life-altering decision that effectively leads to his own ruin with keeping such a big secret from those he loves. His wife pregnant with twins gives birth to a healthy baby boy and a down syndrome baby girl. He decides to put the baby girl in a home and tell the wife she died in childbirth. He asks his nurse at the time to deliver the child to the home but she decides to keep the baby. The novel tells the parallel stories of the two babies growing up. It is a lovely story failing only in it's sharp ending.

I also read The Bone Setters Daughter by Amy Tan. An interesting novel about a Chinese mother and daughter, their relationship and a past that unravels as the mother develops Alzeimhers and the daughter discovers her mothers memoirs.

Lastly I recently just finished The Secret by Rhonda Byrne [yes K, it's one of those books!]. This is a book everyone should read. It's about focusing on what you want out of life in order to make it happen. It is all stuff we know but put in a way that makes sense. I do tend to focus on what I don't want and ergo I bring more of that into my life. It's positivity all the way girls and now that can't be bad!

Looking forward to hearing what you've all been up to over the summer and what books you would recommend.