List of summer reads

When I went in vacation this summer,I took a big bag loaded with books.I always read a lot on vacation but every year I take only few books with me which I finish within 1-2 weeks,then I start running to the bookshop every two or three days to replenish my resources. This summer I managed to avoid this (which doesn`t mean I didn`t buy any books,though,but they were only three and I already read them,so no time for them to stack on my TBR mountain:-)). I managed to read a lot of books from my TBR pile,and also I read a thick hardback promised to another bookcrosser on bookrelay site. So here is my list of summer reads:

Anne Tyler- Searching for Caleb
- Patchwork Planet

Linn Ulmann- Before You Sleep
Walter Buchigani- Tell No One Who You Are
Mark Spragg- An Unfinished Life
Marry Higgins Clark- Kitchen Privileges
Melissa Bank- A Girl`s Guide to Fishing and Hiking
Carol Shields- Republic of Love
Marina Levitska- A Short History of tractors in Ukranian
Orhan Pamuk-Istanbul:Memories of the city
Barbara Nadel- Arabesk
-Belhazzar`s Daughter
-Petrified
Zadie Smith- On Beauty
Lauren Weisberger- The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Moses- Wintering

16 books read for 40 days. 8 wild releases.

Books for my summer vacation

Here goes the list of the books I`m taking for summer reading on my vacation:

Mr Muo`s Travelling Coach by Dai Sijie (Bulgarian transl.)

Lie Down, beast! by Jirzi Kratohvil (Bulg.transl.)

Un été autour du cou by Guy Goffette (Bulgarian translation)

A Patchwork Planet by Ann Tyler (finished)

An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg (finished)

And God Created the Au Pair: Picture the Perfect Family, Now Forget It and Read This! by Pascale Smets, Benedicte Newland (released,didn`t like it)

Arabesk by Barbara Nadel (finished)

Before You Sleep by Linn Ulmann (finished)

Belhazzar`s Daughter by Barbara Nadel (finished)

Involved by Kate Giordan

On Beauty by Zadie Smith (finished)

Searching for Caleb by Ann Tyler (finished)

The Girls` Guide to Hunting And Fishing by Melissa Bank (finished)

The Last Life by Claire Messud

Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath by Kate Moses (finished)

Life and How to Survive it by Robin Skynner,John Cleese

My Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk (finished)

The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing

The funny thing is that when I picked this book in the library,I didn`t realise I have read it before. I found that when I started reading it.I remembered that the last time I read it,I didn`t like it. It was boring to me. Now I liked it better. It raises many important questions. Jane Somers is a fashion magazine editor and her whole life evolves around her work.She is good at it and she knows that. Personally she suffers because her husband and her mother died from cancer in a few years time and she was feeling unadequate to offer them due kindness,care and support. She is afraid that someone may depend on her. But her life changes when she meets Maudie, an old poor lady. Jane feels like she can take a moment and give some attention to the old one. This becomes a long-term commitment. Jane begins to visit Maudie,to do her shopping,to wash her,to clean her place. At first she is terrified that she becomes more and more involved but then she sees this as an opportunity to amend for the past. I liked that part of the book. It says a lot about old age,about dependance on the care of others,on the value of health. It`s not always pleasant,reading about Maudie`s day and how little she needs but how difficult is to receive it. I liked that Jane was honest about her feelings toward Maudie. She loves her and sometimes hates her.too.

In the second part of the book Jane is entrusted to take care of her niece,Kate,who doesn`t want to study,doesn`t want to do anything but to hang around. Meanwhile,she falls in love with a married man. They carry on a very unusual relationship which at the end finishes when Richard leaves for Canada with his wife.

I liked Jane through the whole book. She is of that type who wants to do everything just perfect. It costs her a lot of effort and strength but I think about her as a good person. However,I couldn`t understand why everyone were throwing their difficult children to her. First,Kate,then Kathleen -Richard`s daughter. As if because she was childless and seemed to cope with so much, everyone was envious of her independance and wanted to throw their own problems on her.

In my opinion, the first part of the book was better written and constructed but I enjoyed it to the end.

Africa Trek by Alexandre and Sonia Poussin

Alexandre and Sonia Poussin are a married couple of travellers and researchers who undertake a three years journey in the steps of the first human beings from the southest point of Africa to Israel. They walked all that way on foot,without using any transport. This is the first part of their book about this adventure. It`s an intriguing story of Africa, as they saw it,of the people who often invited them to their houses,and of course,of courage,endurance and love.I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to the second part.

Grace and Truth by Jennifer Johnston

217 pages, hardback, published by Headline

This book was quite a disappointment.After "Two Moons" and "This is Not a Novel",I was expecting really more from this writer. The books starts with family drama: Sally`s husband announces that he was going to divorce her.Sally is an actress and is constantly out of home.More than that,she had a troubled childhood,being raised by her stern single mother. When her husband leaves her alone,she is haunted by unpleasant memories of the past.She decides to streghten her relationship with her grandfather,The Bishop,and get to know more about family`s past. At first,he is reluctant to allow her to get close to him but then he decides otherwise and gives her a bunch of paper containing the story of his awful sin and dark secret (well,the secret was that The Bishop had an incestious contact with his own daughter and a baby was born from this sin...and the baby was...guess who? Of course,Sally!). At first she is shocked,then she accepts the truth,her husband comes back to her and everyone is happy. I think that it`s ridicilous to write such a story in 2005 when,honestly, it cannot surprise or shock anyone.Perhaps the intent was to show some critics of the clergy (The Bishop in the novel has no faith in God,he simply does the service and gives very eloquent speeches) but I don`t think this is a hot topic nowadays.
So,if you like Jennifer Johnston,don`t start reading this novel;you will be wasting your time.If you don`t know her and want to read some of her books, it`s better to start with "This is Not a Novel".

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Read for the bookring of bookcrosser silverstarry. 544 pages. Genre: children`s books (age 9-12) but also perfect for adults who love a good story.

Synopsys from Amazon.com: Meggie, 12, has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. Things change after a visit from a scarred man who calls himself Dustfinger and who refers to Mo as Silvertongue. Meggie learns that her father has been keeping secrets. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released Dustfinger and other characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. Mo also released Capricorn, a sadistic villain who takes great pleasure in murdering people. He has sent his black-coated henchmen to track down Mo and intends to force him to read an immortal monster out of the story to get rid of his enemies.

I fell under the spell of this wonderful book.I loved it! I liked very much the fact that the story was about books, writers,booklovers,book characters,libraries and etc. I found so many nice passages with profound thoughts about books which may serve very well as citations on BC home page:-)). I liked all the characters in the story,especially Meggie,Mortimer,Elinor,and Farid. I only wished that the characters of Capricorn and Resa (Meggie`s mother) were more developed. For example, I wished to know about Resa`s life with Capricorn; how he came to like her and what did she live through with him.Also,the evil side of Capricorn could have been described in more detail (God,I feel bad saying this!:-)).

A wonderful book for children and grown-ups alike,written with great love of literature and written word.

Father by William Wharton

This is one of the best books I read in 2006. Billy returns to see his parents when his mother suffered a heart attack. During her stay in the hospital he develops a new,unexpected relationship with his father. However,after a minor surgery his father falls into a heavy senility. Billy has to fight with incompetent and uncaring doctors and with his mother- an impossibly harsh and controlling person. What happens to our relationship with our parents when they grow old and cannot take care of themselves? What if you cannot stand your mother but have to live with her? What if your daddy suddenly wakes up from his senility and wants to start afresh? This is a book which deals with very difficult questions about love,duty,old age. It is touching without being sentimental; honest without being brutal. I think you can rarely read something on those topics. The writing goes very confidently and fluently. Highly recommended!

Here is also the cover of Bulgarian edition (the one I used):

My Word Cloud

courtesy LotusFlower77
Get your word cloud here.

Kafka On The Shore

Haruki Murakami-"Kafka On The Shore"
Vintage, 512p.,published 2005, hardback. Read in a bookring (courtesy robert-walker)

Kafka Tamura is 15 years old and he runs from home. Nakata is a strange old man who lost his memories and ability to read due to a weird incident during the Second World War.They never meet in the novel but there is something which connects them.There are a lot of weird things in this novel- men conversing with cats and stones,leeches falling from the sky,a lorry driver who becomes addicted to Beethoven.All of this is wonderfully mixed in a unforgetable world of feelings and subconscious ghosts. Kafka runs through a lot of hardships and difficult decisions but at the end of his adventure he is a kind of re-born and ready to face the world again. This makes me view the book as an original rite-of-passage fiction. There are many myths involved here,making the unique mixture of Murakami`s worlds.I enjoyed this novel greatly.

Who should read this book?
You should pick up this book if you are interested in a good mystery with supernatural elements,put together with good psychological skill and the gift of eloquent narration. Some people find Murakami`s novel too weird,so if you tend to like more usual,kind of everyday life fiction,probably you are not going to like it so much.
If you like this,you can read also:
Sputnik Sweetheart" by Haruki Murakami
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami
In the Country of Last Things
The New York Trilogy (Contemporary American Fiction Series)

"Arthur&George"- an excellent novel!

I was very pleased with reading "Arthur&George". I would qualify it as an excellent and very English, in the best sense of the word, book. It manages to give an unusual glimpse at the personality of the famous writer. All characters are masterly described. George is unique in his own way. I liked very much his honesty, his ordinarliness, his modesty. Sometimes he is so modest and simple that he can be taken for stupid or unactive. But the truth is that he is described as a very straightforward man. It was an interesting idea to see the creator of Sherlock Holmes into the shoes of his character:-)). Conan Doyle and his assistant were shown very much like Holmes and Watson, in some aspects. I admired the passion with which Doyle was defending George`s case. He not only defended him but believed him and respected him.

The spiritual session was a very good ending, in my opinion. The sudden fantasy of George of people walking as lifetime prisoners was striking and shocking.

"Arthur & George"

Picked up "Arthur&George" by Julian Barnes yesterday. Looks intriguing from the start.

Gave an interview via telephone about Bookcrossing on National Radio late at night. Another friend-bookcrosser was present in the studio. It was good.

"Adrian Mole and The Mass Destruction Weapons" by Sue Townsend- started reading it two days before. Funny.

Philippa Gregory, John O`Farrell and other books

Recently my reading goes very well, I came across some nice books and there are more waiting on my desk. First I read "The Queen`s Fool" by Philippa Gregory. It is the story of the battle for the throne between Queen Mary and Elisabeth, seen through the eyes of a Hebrew refugee- an intelligent girl Hannah. She has travelled with her father from Spain through all Europe to seek safety from persecutions. They settle in London and soon after that she is employed as a "fool" in the court of Mary. She has the gift of seeing in the future but she cannot command it. The Sight comes to her whenever it wishes. Hannah has been educated by her father; she has a strong sense of independance and she is more interested in the complicated intrigues of the court than in a decent marriage. She has a wit,a great sense of her own personality and value,a strong feeling for independance; she is loyal and honest. I liked her story with Daniel which started so slow and unpromisingly at the beginning,but thereafter developed into a beautiful love. I understood completely her disappointment and pain when she discovered that Daniel had a child from another woman.She was a little bit too severe with him and I admit that I was a bit disappointed when she left him but it was quite natural,for she was deeply hurt by his lie,especially after the cold reception from her mother and sisters in law.

Mary and Elisabeth were very well portrayed.I enjoyed the way Hannah analysed them with her sharp intelligence. She balanced very luckily between her several masters: Queen Mary,Robert Dudley and Elisabeth. I don`t know how Hannah managed to stay loyal and symphatetic to Queen Mary when the country was set on fanatic religious fire.Perhaps she understood that in her heart Queen Mary was a deeply hurted and disappointed woman and her unhappiness made her so fanatical about religion.
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"May Contain Nuts" by John O`Farrell.

This time John O`Farrell points his humor towards excessive ambitions of parents to get the best for their children even if this means to cheat the examinators and take the exams themselves! Alice competes with another mother, Ffion, whose children are supposed to excel in everything. Although not so funny as "The Best You Can Get", this book is a good comedy on parenting ambitions.
---------------------------------------------
"Arthur and George" by Julian Barnes

Going tomorrow to borrow it from the British council library.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

I managed to finish yesterday this huge novel. It was the first of Murakami`s books with which that I experienced some problems. The story is multi-dimensional, including politics and Japanese history-something which was not present in other novels. There are many threads, many characters who on a first sight don`t have anything in common. Sometimes I found it difficult to follow everything and keep it in my head as one whole. Perhaps this book needs a second reading to attain the more subtle meaning and connections. Otherwise, it was an intriguing and satisfying reading, as always with Murakami`s writings.

First wild release for 2006

Today was my first wild release for 2006. The book was "Star of The Sea" by Joseph O` Connor. My husband took a picture of me holding the book before releasing it.

Here is a picture of the book in the wild:

Now with my new digital photo-camera I would like to take pictures of my wild releases but probably it will not be an easy task, especially when releasing at places with many people.

Bookrings and bookrays to start 2006:-))

I decided to clean up a bit my TBR pile and let some books travel before their turn to be read by me comes.

UPDATE:

I had participants only for several of my bookrings. I have deleted those who had no
participants and were cancelled.

Here goes the list:

BOOKRINGS

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2455045/bookmaniac70/book_-The-Good-Earth-Pearl-S.-Buck
Participants:
nyassa-ici (UK or France)
------>back to me

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1753131/bookmaniac70/book_-The-Real-Life-of-Sebastian-Knight-Vladimir-Vladimirovich-Nabokov
Participants:
1) okyrhoe (Greece, int.)
2) dospescados (US)
------> back to me


Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1196566/bookmaniac70/book_-Laughter-in-the-Dark-Vladimir-Nabokov
Participants:
1)safrolistics (UK, Europe only)
2) okyrhoe (Greece, int.)
3)dospescados (US)
-----> back to me


If you are interested in one or more of them, please send a PM (screen name bookmaniac70) with titles, your location and shipping preferences. The rings are international but if there are no European participants for some of them, those rings are going to be cancelled as I`m not able to send overseas anymore (see my profile for details).

Books read in 2006

Here will go the traditional list of all my readings for 2006:-))


1. "The Little Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov (excellent)
2. "You Are Not Like Other Mothers" by Angelica Schobsdorff (very good)
3. "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd (good)
4. "Moon Palace" by Paul Auster (very good)
5. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles" by Haruki Murakami (in Russian)
6. "The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fawler (average, not bad)
7. "The Queen`s Fool" by Philippa Gregory (very good)
8. "May Contain Nuts" by John O`Farrell (good)
9. "Adrian Mole and Weapons of Mass Destruction" by Sue Townsend (good,very funny)
10. "As Nature Made Him" by John Colapinto (good)
11. "Deep Waters" by Barbara Nadel (very good)
12. "Standing in The Rainbow" by Fannie Flagg (good)
13. "Harem" by Barbara Nadel (good)
14. "Garata na mechtite"(autobiography of Juri Bashmet)
15. "My Name Is Red" by Orhan Pamuk (re-reading, excellent!)
16. "Lyubov i divi krushi" by Kristin Dimitrova
17. "Himalaya" by Michael Palin (very good)
18. "Kafka On The Shore" by Haruki Murakami (great!)
19. "Lila" by Robert Pirsig (re-reading- great!!!)
20. "A Dinner With a Perfect Stranger" by David Gregory (not bad)
21. "Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov (orig.edition,re-reading- great,great,great!)
22. "Isgubenite magareta" ot Valeri Stefanov (average)
23. "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke (great!)
24. So Many Books So Little Time by Sara Nelson (average)
25. This Is Not A Novel by Jeniffer Johnston (good)
26. Two Moons by Jennifer Johnston (good)
27. Africa Trek: 14 000 km on foot by Alexandre and Sonia Poussin (interesting)
28. The Names of Things by Susan Brind Morrow (very good)
29. Grace and Truth by Jennifer Johnston (bad)
30. The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing (good)
31.Anne Tyler- Searching for Caleb
32.- Patchwork Planet

33.Linn Ulmann- Before You Sleep
34.Walter Buchigani- Tell No One Who You Are
35.Mark Spragg- An Unfinished Life
36.Marry Higgins Clark- Kitchen Privileges
37.Melissa Bank- A Girl`s Guide to Fishing and Hiking
38.Carol Shields- Republic of Love
39.Marina Levitska- A Short History of tractors in Ukranian
40.Orhan Pamuk-Istanbul:Memories of the city
41.Barbara Nadel- Arabesk
42.-Belhazzar`s Daughter
43.-Petrified
44.Zadie Smith- On Beauty
45.Lauren Weisberger- The Devil Wears Prada
46.Kate Moses- Wintering
47.Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
48.Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory
49.Baltimor by Jelene Lengold
(updated 02/09/2006)
50.Iron&Silk by Mark Salzman
51.Deadly Web by Barbara Nadel
52. Everything is language by Francoise Dolto (bulgarian translation)
(updated 10/20/2006)
53. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
54.History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
(upd.10/22/2006)
55.Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
56. How Life Begins by Christopher Vaughan
57. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
58. Mozart`s Last Year by Robbins Landon
(upd.14/11)
59. Mea Culpa by Anne Holt
60. Everyone Who Is Known by Lauren Weinsberger
61. In Her Shoes by Jane Weiner
62. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
(updated 07/12/2006)
63, Africa Trek-2- Alexandre and Sonia Poussin
64.The White Masai- by Corine Hoffman
65. Ин@родный артист -by Gidon Kremer (in Russian)
(29/12/2006)

Start of Reading 2006

I met the beginning of 2006 with two books in hand: "The Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov (a brilliant satyre of Soviet society in 20s of 20th century) and " You are not like other mothers" by Angelika Schrobsdorff. In the last day of 2005 I received "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd from a bookring and should start with it soon as well.