Category: Random

Monthly Review – February 2014

Posted February 28, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

And the mountains echoedThe Literary Exploration reading challenge is going so well; almost 2000 books have been read from the group so far. I’m so happy with the response and pleased to see people still had time to read And The Mountains Echoed. Some interesting thoughts have come out of this book from the group and while there were people that didn’t like the book (me included), I’m so glad to see so much great constructive criticism in the threads; this is what we live for. For those who don’t know about the reading challenge, there is still time to join in the fun, so check out my post here.

I’m so happy to see that the book club continues to be entertaining and as we move into March, I’m looking forward to seeing what people will say about Middlesex for our literary fiction theme. I’ve not read this book yet but I’m a fan of Jeffery Eugenides’ other book, so I’m excited to try this one. Currently I’ve read eleven books towards the Literary Exploration Reading Challenge and you can find my own record of the challenge here.

I thought I had a quiet month reading but I’m still happy with my effort of seven books (plus a few comics). Highlights this month include My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey, a post-modern take on one of the biggest literary hoaxes in Australia and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy which I’ve been reading since October. One book I will most likely be talking about continuously for the rest of the year is The Dark Path by David Schlicker, a memoir about the battle between his desire to become a priest and his attraction to women. How was February for you and your reading life? Let me know in the comments below.

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And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Posted February 27, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Historical Fiction / 0 Comments

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled HosseiniTitle: And the Mountains Echoed (Goodreads)
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Published: Bloomsbury, 2013
Pages: 404
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: ARC from Publisher

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Abdullah and Pari are close, very close; Pari idolises her older brother and there is nothing he wouldn’t do to keep he safe. But at the age of three Pari is sold to a glamorous young woman who couldn’t have children in Kabul. Without any form of goodbyes Abdullah never forgets his younger sister, but she has forgotten all about her previous life.

Khaled Hosseini sets out to explore the different ways in which families nurture; he begins this novel with a fable about a mythical creature known as the div who comes to the village and takes young children to his fort in the mountains. One day a farmer was so heartbroken of the loss of a child that he climbs the mountain to kill the div. After a brief battle with the creature the div shows him the most beautiful place the farmers ever seen and the children all happy. The div tells the farmer that he has come to test him and he has to choose what is best for his child.

I might lose some fans but I have to say it; people talk about Khaled Hosseini’s literary genius, with so much hype surrounding And the Mountains Echoed but I don’t see it. I will admit that I have not read The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns so I’m only judging his literary merits by this alone and I might be wrong. Here is my thoughts based on only this book; he is a great storyteller but he is no writer of literary fiction, in fact I think he still has some work to do, before I would consider him a good writer and I don’t think I would even class this as literary fiction.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy reading this novel but I was expecting literary fiction and I was disappointed I didn’t get it. I was also reading the most wonderful novel at the same time, which actually covers similar themes and plot points. So I continually compared this novel with the other and when you are facing off against A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, it really had no hope in winning. The story was nice and I found myself racing though the book but all the time I wanted to go back to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena.

Well well go and play till the light fades away
And then go home to bed
The little ones leaped and shouted and laugh’d
And all the hills ecchoed.

The title of the book comes from a William Blake poem called Nurse’s Song (I have no idea why Blake spells echoed with a double c but if you have any insights on that I would love to know) which feels fitting to the book. I think of Abdullah as the nurse who wants to protect but Pari is off having a good time (a far better life) and I’m not good at interpreting poetry but I think that’s where the analogy ends. There is the moral and ethical dilemma here about Pari, is she better off with the rich family or with her brother and family struggling.

As far as I can see this was a great story and I would read Khaled Hosseini again; I am curious to compare this to his other two books. I just think this is just great storytelling with a moral but there is nothing to make this stand out and think this is literature. In fact none of the characters or plot was so memorable, so when it came to talking about this book in book club I struggled to remember the plot and characters and I only finished it the day before.

At times I felt this book was a little staged and forced and I finished the book not learning anything about Afghanistan and the life of the people living there, so I felt disappointed. I know of offended people on the Khaled Hosseini bandwagon but sadly I just didn’t get into it. I liked the book but there is no lasting impression left on me and since I was reading a book that will easily be in my top five  books of 2013 at the same time, I think that really gave me a negative opinion towards And the Mountains Echoed. This is the type of book you take to the beach or on holidays for a mindless but enjoyable story, there is nothing really else there.

Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons I Love Being A Blogger/Reader

Posted February 18, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 23 Comments

toptentuesdayIt’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in on this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Reasons I Love Being A Blogger/Reader. Do I really need reasons? Reading and blogging has been a big part of my life, I don’t want to imagine my life without books. I thought I would talk about five things I love about being a reader and then five reasons being a blogger is great.

Reading

  • Escapism – I don’t need to experience life as a serial killer, warrior, mad scientist, astronaut, rake or anything else. I can just read a book and watch those characters make the mistakes.
  • Books look great – One of the best things about being a reader is all those beautiful books on my shelves (I’m a hoarder collector).
  • Knowledge – The more I read, the more I learn, which leads to the realisation that there is so much more to learn.
  • Book clubs – I love being apart of a book club, nothing like getting together and talking about books.
  • My pretentious levels – I just love being pretentious and trying to read every book on the ‘1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die’ list is very pretentious.

Blogging

  • Book journal – I love having a book journal, this is the main reason I started blogging and remains the most important part of my blog.
  • Bookish news – As a book blogger you often find out all the bookish news and are aware of all the great books coming out (this is also a curse).
  • Critical reading – As a book blogger, I think my critical reading skills have improved greatly.
  • Writing skills – Nothing improves your writing more than practise.
  • The community – The book blogging community is great, I love connecting with all the other book bloggers. Though where are all the male book bloggers hiding?

After the Armistice Ball by Catriona McPherson

Posted February 12, 2014 by jus_de_fruit in Crime, Guest Posts / 1 Comment

After the Armistice Ball by Catriona McPhersonTitle: After the Armistice Ball (Goodreads)
Author: Catriona McPherson
Series: Dandy Gilver #1
Published: Carroll & Graf, 2005
Pages: 303
Genres: Crime
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

The Duffy Family claim their diamonds have been stolen while visiting the Esslemont’s for the Armistice Ball. Mrs. Esslemont asks Dandy Gilver to use her skills of snooping and gossiping to investigate this further. It is Scotland in 1923 and it seems a world vastly different to my own. I think a good book can make you feel included in these unfamiliar places, but for most of the book, I felt like a foreign observer.

I never really enjoyed the protagonist Dandy Gilver. My husband will frequently remind me that you don’t need to like the characters to enjoy a book, and while I partly agree, my distaste towards Dandy definitely impacted on my enjoyment of this book.  The reason I picked up this book is because I love the concept of the ladies of the 1920s solving crimes.  I thoroughly enjoy Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries on TV, though I’ve yet to read the books myself. Maybe my expectations were just too high. The only character I truly enjoyed was Dandy’s Lady’s maid who was so full of sass and pretentiousness, that I wish she featured more in this story.

Throughout the book, I always felt like I knew what was going to happen before the characters themselves. I would be expecting some sort of twist, because surely it can’t be that obvious, but pages later, Dandy and friends come to the realization that I had already had. The only time when something didn’t seem obvious was in the final chapter. I can’t even say what it is without some major spoiler alerts. But they make this discovery during the investigation and someone asks about the person connected to it, and Dandy just says “Isn’t it obvious?” and then the person she is with realizes as well. But I’ve never worked that out.  If anyone has read it, please tell me the answer? Did I miss something during the book when I got bored and started skimming?  By the end of the book, I don’t care who stole the diamonds, but I do want to know the answer to this question. I have tried google, and I haven’t found a confirmed answer.

I have read in some reviews that this series gets better as it goes along. Maybe the author needed some time to find her feet as she developed the characters, but I don’t feel the need to be part of this world again and will be giving the rest of the series a miss.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Swoon

Posted February 11, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

toptentuesdayIt’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in on this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Books That Will Make You Swoon. I don’t know if I’m the type of person that swoons but I here are ten books where the writing stands out so much that they are swoon worthy.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Cry

Posted February 4, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

toptentuesdayIt’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in on this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Books That Will Make You Cry. I don’t normally cry in books, but I’m sure I can come up with some books that will make you feel sad enough to cry.

Monthly Review – January 2014

Posted January 31, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyHard to believe that the first month of 2014 is over, it has been amazing to see how much excitement people are having towards The Literary Exploration Reading Challenge. For those who don’t know about the reading challenge, there is still time to join in the fun, so check out my introductory post here. Most people were busy enjoying the reading challenge, so our group read, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, didn’t get talked about much, but from what I’ve read it has all be very positive.

I’ve been off to a flying start this year, I’ve read seven books which is surprising since I have no reading goal and I want to take my time with reading. Most of those books go towards the Literary Exploration Reading Challenge and you can find my own record of the challenge here. I’m thinking about trying to read two books for each genre this year and I’m keeping a record of every book and which genre it best fits into on that page as well, just to see which genres need more attention in my exploring.

Highlights of the month for me include; Books by Charlie Hill, 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, All That Is by James Salter, The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich and Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Also a special mention to my current literary obsession Gary Shteyngart; I read his memoir Little Failure and bought all his books (with the exception to Super Sad True Love Story, which I already owned), I hope to read all his books this year but I’m sure other books will get in the way. So what have you been reading this month?

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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Posted January 30, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Thriller / 0 Comments

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le CarréTitle: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Goodreads)
Author: John le Carré
Series: George Smiley #5
Published: Sceptre, 2009
Pages: 422
Genres: Thriller
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is my second John le Carré novel, the first being The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (which I may need to read again). I remember never really feeling the need to go out and read some more, which would have been a huge mistake. My reasoning for reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was mainly came from the need to have the book read before seeing the movie adaption. John le Carré does a great job writing complex spy plots, but sometimes it gets too confusing and makes it hard to keep up.

The story follows George Smiley (le Carré’s most famous protagonist), a retired intelligence officer working for MI6 (often referred to as “The Circus”) on a quest to discover a mole within the organisation. The characters in the book are so well written, I had to admire the way they all seem so secretive and full of mystery. This is what I expect from a spy novel and John le Carré does a brilliant job in handling them on paper. There is a fine line in how to handle characters like this; too much one way they feel over the top and cheesy and too much the other the mystery will be gone.

The complexity of a novel like this does cause a bit of an issue but in the end isn’t that what you really want? With the twists and turns, you are left never really sure what everyone’s motivations are. John le Carré has a way of under developing characters but never in a way you are annoyed by it; the idea is to keep so much of someone’s character a mystery, with inconsistences that it makes them feel like a real spy. It’s an interesting technique, one that wouldn’t work in most other genres.

Have to give John le Carré credit for the way he builds atmosphere, in a complex plot with numerous characters he still manages to bring a glimpse of London life. Not being to London before, I couldn’t tell you how realistic his depiction is but it feels real. Another thing he does really well is dialogue, nothing feels forced or fake; it all feels seamless and natural.

Now the movie adaptation of this film was particularly interesting. Having read the book beforehand, I really enjoyed it. I had an idea of what was going on, but my wife didn’t, she struggled with the plot. Personally I think overly complex plots make for better spy movies and books, but I think it really helped to have read the book before seeing this adaptation. It was a faithful and enjoyable movie full of all you expect from the book and Benedict Cumberbatch with bad hair.

I’m not going to rush out and read a John le Carré novel anytime soon, but I will come back to him at a later date. I did enjoy this novel; I just feel that the complexity makes it a very difficult book to read. I will have to take my time with his novels, but I’m excited to see what happens in his other books. I’m not sure where to start, do I just read a recommendation, start at the start of the series or just check out his latest book?

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d NEVER Want To Trade Places With

Posted January 28, 2014 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 13 Comments

toptentuesdayIt’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in on this meme because I have a set topic to work with. Top Ten Tuesday is a book blogger meme that is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week the theme is: Top Ten Characters I’d NEVER Want To Trade Places With. I thought this could be interesting, I don’t want to trade places with anyone but here are some characters I definitely wouldn’t want to trade places with (in no particular order).

  • Cormac Easton from The Explorer (read the book and find out why)
  • Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar (I wouldn’t want her life)
  • Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye (what a phony)
  • Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (he’s a little crazy)
  • Mark Watney from The Martian (no Wi-Fi)
  • The new Mrs. de Winter’s from Rebecca (Mrs. Danvers is mean)
  • Miles Halter from Looking for Alaska (Alaska was awesome)
  • Celeste Price from Tampa (too disturbed)
  • Dr. Peter Brown from Beat the Reaper (autofibulectomy)
  • Galen from Dirt (messed up family, messed up life)

I could go on but I rather leave the conversation for the comment.

Guest Review: The Flavours of Love by Dorothy Koomson

Posted January 27, 2014 by jus_de_fruit in Crime, Guest Posts, Thriller / 0 Comments

Guest Review: The Flavours of Love by Dorothy KoomsonTitle: The Flavours of Love (Goodreads)
Author: Dorothy Koomson
Published: Quercus, 2013
Pages: 429
Genres: Crime, Thriller
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

I came across this book at the bookshop while looking for Christmas presents for my husband. He was with me at the time and saw my reaction when I read the synopsis on the back. Cooking and murder and secrets! So much that interested me. The Flavours of Love tells the story of Saffron Mackleroy and her family after the murder of her husband 18 months earlier. The killer of her husband has started sending letters to Saffron to make her aware that she is being watched. And on top of all that, she has all the usual family drama to deal with. Her teenage daughter has some very confronting issues to deal with, the younger son is withdrawing from life, her husband’s aunt has been asked to leave her nursing home. This story is more than just about trying to solve a murder; it’s about how to survive life.

Dorothy Koomson’s writing was very compelling. I was mesmerized from the first chapter and at the end of the night, I had to force myself to put the book down to get some sleep, as I knew I wouldn’t ever find a place I would willingly stop. It was so great to get to Friday night and know I could stay up as late as I wanted and power through the last half of the book. It was after 4am when I got to bed, knowing the family was safe again after Joel’s killer had been caught.

This book could have easily just focused on the murder aspect, but it incorporated so many other things. It gave me so much to reflect upon about my own relationships and how I might cope in a similar circumstance but I hope I never have to find out. Losing the love of your life would be devastating, but then you have to send the kids back to school, return to work, keep paying bills. Life goes on and doesn’t slow down when tragedy strikes. And there are all those little things, the little neuroses that your spouse would be able to talk you through, and to suddenly lose that voice of reason and do things you might not have done in the past. So many little things that we take for granted in the normality of our lives.

I loved learning about the love that Saffron and Joel shared with little flashback scenes to their life together, while they were dating and married. There is so much magic in this book amongst all the tragedy and drama that is revealed between the pages. I wasn’t really sure of the genre to class this book as when I started it, but wanted to include it in my Literary Exploration Challenge. I eventually settled on Thriller, because I certainly felt thrilled all the way through it as all the secrets were unraveled.

I don’t think I’d ever heard of Dorothy Koomson before, but she is now firmly planted on my radar and I will be hunting down her other books to read.

This is a guest post by Mary; not only is she my wonderful wife, she is also my editor and helps moderate the Literary Exploration group on Goodreads. Big thanks to her for this post and everything she does to help me with this blog.