Book Reviews

[Ziegfeld Girl]

source: darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi

This book is about a middle aged American woman who decides to move to Venice to marry a Venetian man she barely knows. The book is a true story and mainly focuses on the protagonist's move to Venice, preparing for her wedding and adjusting to a new country. It is not a difficult read but I didn't enjoy the book and found it difficult to become interested in the story. The author uses an overly descriptive style of writing which I found rather boring and tedious to read and so even though a lot is being written nothing is really being said.

 

[Ziegfeld Girl]

source: bookdepository.com
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

This was a light and easy read that I quite enjoyed. The author and her partner buy an old villa in the Tuscan town of Cortona in the early 1990s. The book describes the following years of restoring and renovating the villa and living in Italy during summer and Christmas. What I liked most about the book was Mayes account of living in a small Tuscan town and how that compares to living in a big city in the US.

 

[Ziegfeld Girl]

source: australiatoitaly.blogspot.com

See Naples and Die by Penelope Green

This is the second book in a three book series about the author's decision to leave Australia and move to Italy. After living in Rome for a few years to author is offered a full time journalist job in Naples. The book focuses on Green's life in Naples and in particular the history and culture of Naples and how it differs from other Italian cities. The influence of the Camorra makes up a large portion of the book and Green talks to the locals and public officials to try to get a true picture and better understanding of the city. I liked the book and it was very easy and quick to read. I'd recommend the book to those wanting a non-glamorised account of living in Italy as a foreigner with a bit of social commentary thrown in or those who have an interest in Naples.

 

[YoninahAliza]

Amazon.com

The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner

This book tells the story of three women of different religions; Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It tells their story of forming a faith club soon after 9/11 to better understand one another religions and their own religions too. All three women felt that they needed a place where they could talk about g-d, the stereotypes of their religion, and finding their place in America well also practicing their faith. I really enjoyed this book and the message which it presents. In the book the authors stress that more people should create faith clubs in order to truly understand one another, for without understanding their can be no peace. I read this book for the faith club which I'm starting at school, but honestly, I would have read it even if it wasn't assigned to me because its such a fascinating subject and one which I think is highly important to understand.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

LIMIT // Frank Schätzing
★★★☆☆


OVERVIEW/ This 1300 page story is very complex and multidimensional, at first there are two seperate storylines that begin to intertwine after about 750 pages. It is set in the year 2025, when the extraction of helium-3 on the moon takes over the energy market and oil is starting to become obsolete. The most influential person is Julian Orley, who built an "elevator" to a geostationary satellite, from where a shuttle takes visitors to the moon, more specifically to his new lunar hotel "Gaia". While he takes a group of important & very influential billionairs (to make them invest in his business) as the first ever guests to this spectacular place, a threat of nuklear dimensions is made against him and/or his building, which leads to a wild chase from Shanghai to London between the criminals and cyber-detective Owen Jericho (who somewhat involuntarily becomes involved in all this).

EXPERIENCE/ While the story and futuristic setting are very exciting and interesting, it is sometimes hard to keep track of what happens and how the backstory or certain happenings in the past are connected. He describes a lot of (true) historic facts and background information that is really well researched, but he could have cut a few hundred pages in my opinion.
His descriptions are very detailed, be it of the surface of the moon or the traffic situation in Shanghai or the dimensions and looks of the space station, and sometimes I didn't quite get the image.

DIFFICULTY/ I read it in German (my mother tongue), so the language obviously wasn't the problem but as mentioned above he sometime confused me with his complicated descriptions. The most difficult part would be to not be discouraged by the sheer volume though, since the climax of the story only starts to build up after about 850 pages.

CONCLUSION/ For everyone who doesn't mind a huge book and fans of futuristic stories with a little interest in history and the energy industry

(naanoo.com)

 

[Ziegfeld Girl]

source:fantasticfiction.co.uk

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a story of a stranger who goes to a small village and makes a proposition to the villagers. The response and actions of the villagers is to help the stranger answer the question if humans are inherently good or evil. This formed the central question and theme of the book. It was a very interesting read that also explored the ideas of temptation and fear. I would recommend the book to everyone but particularly to those that enjoy philosophical novels and morality tales. Since the book poses so many questions to the reader and explores a number of themes and ideas I think this would make a good novel for a book group.
​

 

[Dora]

The Winner stands alone by Paolo Coelho

Not one of his best books, it didn't even look like Paolo wrote it.
But it gives a different and worse look on the whole "VIP" and models world.

 

[Belowen]

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank [3/5]

I'm often disappointed by post-apocalyptic books written pre-21st century because although they retain a lot of old world charm, they don't really capture the mood or feel of a post-apocalyptic world that I could possibly relate to. Having said that, 'Alas, Babylon' was an interesting read. Despite the obvious 1950's mentality (including racial segregation and lines about how much women need men, after the men return from hunting to find the women sobbing over a goldfish ), the story still carried itself pretty well to a new generation. The actual bombing event was interesting, and then seeing how the town reacted afterwards seemed pretty realistic also. I did enjoy the book, and managed to get through it pretty quickly.

Recommended for: Those interested in a non-action based tale of a small American town surviving in a post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear event.

cover source: bookdepository.co.uk

 

[Dora]

Torment by Lauren Kate

Quite twilightish, but interesting nevertheless.
Angels, demons, humans.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

LULLABY // Chuck Palahniuk
★★★☆☆


A typical Palahniuk novel- not my favourite though. The story is crazy & a little on the strange side (like all of his stories). He uses some literary styles a lot, e.g. the repetition of catchphrases; which is kind of his style I suppose, but it gets boring after a while.
It's a very quick read though and the language is not very complicated.

I can recommend it for everyone who's a fan of his work or who likes stories that are unusual and not too realistic.

(floiminter.net)

 

[ParadEyes]

LOVE this thread. Thanks everyone for the interesting reviews.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
★★★★☆


I tried writing a short summary of the story but I can't seem to do that without giving too much away. So I'll just say this:

I really enjoyed reading this, it is full of irony & wit as well as serious (& not so serious) thoughts about science, religion, power and the end of the world.

This being my first Vonnegut, it made me want to read more of his books.

(theasylum.wordpress.com)

 

[missbluejean]

^ Couldn't resist buying this from a Penguin Books sale at Borders. I already reserved it for my next read.

 

[Belowen]

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton [3/5]

For some reason it took me a long time to really get into the plot of this book. Around half way through it did start to get interesting though, and I managed to finish the second half in a couple of days after taking 2 weeks to get through the first half. I don't think it helped me to get involved in the plot having the chapters jumping between 3 different timelines and, but once I sat down and really concentrated it wasn't too hard to follow. The writing was easy to follow and I liked the character development. I had already guessed the "twist" about 1/4 into the story so that wasn't too much of a surprise. Not a bad book but not particularly great either.

Recommended for: Those who like historical fiction and a bit of mystery.

cover source: bookdepository.co.uk

 

[Belowen]

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis [4/5]

I read this book because I wanted something 'fast and easy' to get through so I could get back up to speed (after taking 2 weeks to finish my last book), and I now remember how much I love the magic of C.S. Lewis' Narnia. The writing style is quite old fashioned, but Lewis' wit and imagination really does not age. Such a sweet story, and I'm glad I re-read it, and can't wait to re-read the rest of the Narnia chronicles.

Recommended for: Those who want to take a nostalgic trip down memory lane to Narnia.

cover source: bookdepository.co.uk

 

[Belowen]

Z For Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien [4/5]

This was another book that I had read for English Literature in high school and had a vague recollection of enjoying, so I decided to re-read it again. I think I got more out of it in this re-read than I did when I initially read the book back in school. It's the story of a 16 year old girl who survives a nuclear war and is living self sufficiently until a man makes his way into the valley where she is living. It's writting from her perspective in diary form, and it's a really interesting story of how people react under pressure and extreme circumstances. A fairly quick & easy read, I managed to finish it in 2 days.

Recommended for: Those who find post-apocalyptic stories and tales of survival interesting.

cover source: bookdepository.co.uk

 

[kito09]

The Lovers Room by Steven Carroll

(dymocks)

The best book I've read this year so far, hands down. A novel that involuntarily made me forget a world existed outside Carroll's pages of fluid-like words and captivating story. The story of a sensitive and overall doomed love affair between a western educated Japanese girl and an Australian interpreter for the British army, just at the end of WW2, will have you questioning -- what if we could control our human weakness and inner demons - the jealousy, the recklessness, the betrayal - just for an hour, or a brief moment in an impending time, could we possibly change the whole course of the rest of our lives? Thought-provokingly wonderful, a novel that will effectively inject the never-ending saying and sentiment of 'what if?'. Highly recommended.

 

[Alvedansen]

I am legend by Richard Matheson

senseichow.files.wordpress.com

i love post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels so this one sounded great.
the main characters is the only person surviving an "virus" outbreak which turns people into ...vampires. of course the plot sounds crazy, but it didn't feel like a fantasy, more like something that could really happen one day. the way the character reacts to the changing world felt quite believable as well, so overall i really liked the story
now the big minus: i didn't like the writing style. it felt more like a short story (and i can't stand short stories) and i didn't like the way the flashbacks interrupted the story, in this case i would've preferred a linear narrative

3/5

Big mouth and ugly girl by Joyce Carol Oates

ebooks-imgs.connect.com

don't know why i picked this one up, i was at the bookstore and bored so i read it in a few sittings there
boy says some stupid stuff at school, gets overheard and before he knows what's happening he's questioned by police and this loser girl tells the headmaster what really happened. they become friends and yadda yadda yadda
i guess it's a nice read for very young teens and teaches you it's important to stick up for others and say the truth even if it's not what your parents or friends want you to do, but really, this has been done before and MUCH better. the writing is ok i guess.

2/5

The pillars of the earth by Ken Follett (re-read)

images.contentreserve.com

LOVE
it's a mammoth, but worth every minute you spend with it. i can't even describe it since it tells the stories of so many different people. there's love, hate, revenge, ecclesiastical life, life in the middle ages, architecture and so on
it's really for everybody, my father and my brother were fascinated with it as well.
there comes a point when you can't put it down anymore and you just need to know what's going to happen to your favourite (or most hated) characters.
if you're looking for a novel that transfers you into a different time and you have time to hole up and read for hours, this is your book!

5/5

 

[Alvedansen]

Afterdark by Haruki Murakami

3.bp.blogspot.com

the first novel i've read by Murakami. i was running late so i just grabbed it from the shelf, no time to choose
not much happens actually, it's only about one night and the lives of several people, the main character being Mari. i really don't know what to say about this one, but it was a nice, quick read and i will definitely check out more books by him

3/5

If I stay by Gayle Forman

collider.com

17 year old girl gets into a car-accident with her whole family. her parents and brother die and she's the only one who (barely) survives. there's a little intro until the accident happens from then on we follow "ghost" Mia and there are many flashbacks. she has the outer body experience (or whatever it's called) seeing herself being transported to the hospital, friends and relatives visiting her etc. now she has to make the decision whether she wants to go with her family or 'come back to life'
it's very touching actually, i had to fight back tears many times, from all those flashback scenes you grow to love her family and up until the very end you wonder how she's going to decide.

4/5

 

[purplethistle]

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua [5/5]

I know that this book has caused some controversy in the US but thats part of the reason why I read the book. This book is about the author looking back on her style of parenting, the 'Chinese way,' on her two daughters. In the first third of the book it can be quite humorous with the struggles of enforcing so to speak the 'chinese way.' As the book continues this method is then questioned. The controversy and humour aside there are ways of looking at things to be learnt such as one can only truly enjoys things that they are good at, one can only be humble if they have something to be humble about etc. Would also highly recommend youtubing the classical pieces that pop up in the book, it really adds to what has been written