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):