Category: Random

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer TBR

Posted December 10, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 4 Comments

It’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 on My Summer TBR (To Be Read pile). I’m not one to plan too far ahead but there are a few books I really want to read over the summer.

By Blood We Live by Glen Duncan
Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh
Pig’s Foot by Carlos Acosta
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Difficult Men by Brett Martin
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Goat Mountain by David Vann
Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
Equilateral by Ken Kalfus
Decoded by Mai Jia

Top Ten Tuesday: 2014 Releases I’m Dying to Read

Posted December 3, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 17 Comments

It’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in of 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: 2014 Releases I’m Dying to Read. This is an interesting topic and I will try to think of ten books, I’m looking forward to. I’ve linked to the Goodreads page so you can have a look at each book.

Holiday Reading Giveaway

Posted December 2, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Random / 27 Comments

December is almost upon us, which means it is time to start thinking about what books to give to people and what your holiday reads are going to be. I’m pleased to announce that in celebration of the release of John Safran’s book Murder in Mississippi (see my review), Bookworld have allowed me to offer this giveaway. Not only are they offering the readers of Literary Exploration a promotional code that will give everyone 5% off all Bookworld purchases but also a chance to win a $20 voucher that can be used for any book (or CD in the store).

This is a great chance to pick up Murder in Mississippi as well as any other books you may need for the holidays. Just a reminder: Bookworld offers free shipping anywhere in Australia and you can take comfort in knowing you are buying from an Australian company.

This giveaway is only available to Australian readers but make sure you enter below. To get 5% off your Bookworld purchases, simply use the code BW-SEO14 on your next book buying spree up until the 31st of January 2014. Good luck and happy reading.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monthly Review – November 2013

Posted November 30, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 5 Comments

Now that November is coming to an end, I feel like I need to breathe a sigh of relief. I feel like I’ve been in a major reading slump during this month, but on reflecting it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought, there was a period of a few weeks where I struggled to finish anything but in the end I was able to manage nine books; not too bad.

Let’s have a quick look back at the month for the book club on Goodreads and our book of the month, The Bone People. I went into this book not knowing anything about it, I never heard of it and glad I was able to read it. This was a controversial and confronting book and as readers of this blog know, I do enjoy a confronting read. If you missed the conversation about this book, head over on to Goodreads, there is still time to join in.

Next month we are in for a mystery, when we look at And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I’ve not read any Christie so this will be a new experience for me. I hope it is a nice quick and enjoyable book to read over the holiday period. If you’re not aware, the book discussion and everything else will be happening over on the Goodreads forums, so feel free to join in there.

As I said before, this was a difficult reading month for me; not that I didn’t like the books, just an annoying slump. Check out my thoughts about reading slumps in this post if you are interested. I had a great month in October; I did enjoy some interesting non-fiction books this month. Highlights include The Know-It-All and Perv. As for fiction, I think I did better with the lighter books, like Moon Over Soho and The Martian. How did you go this month?

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

Posted November 29, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Bone People (Goodreads)
Author: Keri Hulme
Published: Pan Macmillan, 1984
Pages: 540
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

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

It was a gloomy and stormy night, a mute 7 year old boy, Simon shows at the hermit Kerewin’s tower. The next morning his adoptive father, Joe came to pick him up. Because Simon couldn’t explain his motives, Kerewin has to rely on Joe to tell their curious story. A storm earlier that year sees Simon wash up on a beach with no memory or clue of his identity. Joe and his now deceased wife took the troubled boy in, but the traumatised boy is just too hard to cope with.

The Maori people use bones as tools and for art; they believe the notion of a person’s core is found within their skeleton. The bones are a common theme throughout the novel; each character is emotionally stripped to the bone. It is then we truly see what type of person these characters are. This novel is full of violence and twisted emotions, making this a tense and draining book to read.

Something I really liked about this novel was Keri Hulme’s use of silence as tool that drives the plot. Simon is unable to speak, but we find out this is more of a psychological rather than a physical restriction, as he can sing. I think he is afraid to say the wrong thing, a defensive strategy. He uses notes as a primary form of communication, this way there are no expressions of his emotion and he can protect himself. The book goes a little further, Simon is also silent about the pain, when he is beaten he doesn’t make a sound. Kerewin also uses silence in a similar way, she built her tower to hide away and be a recluse; no one can hurt her if she is in solitude. She is always an artist suffering from a creative silence; not being able to let her creative side flow through her art. You can read this book and find many examples of silences within it; very effective and I spent a lot of time trying to work out the meaning behind it.

Each character has been damaged that their defensive mechanisms make it hard to open up to others. Yet the three main characters spend the entire novel trying to work out what love is and how to find it. They are all isolated themselves from the world; Kerewin in her tower, Simon with his inability to steak and Joe with his grief. There is just so many themes you could look at in The Bone People, the idea of a utopian society uniting Maori and Western culture, Post-colonial discourse, cultural illness, violence as a way to communicate and you can just go on and on.

This is not the easiest book to read, it is confronting and tense. The Bone People left me with mixed emotions; on one hand the writing was wonderful and left me thinking about so many issues but on the other hand the violence just left me with a sick feeling. I often try to leave my emotional opinion of the subject matter out of analysing a book but I just can’t help it with this one. In the end, I think the book has something important to say and worth reading.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Am Thankful For

Posted November 26, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 0 Comments

It’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in of 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: Ten Books I Am Thankful For. Thanksgiving is such an American event; but I’m going to jump on board with this theme because I want something to post. I’m thankful for the following books because of many different reasons.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – this is my all-time favourite and plays a big part in developing my passion for books.
Hey! Nietzsche! Leave Them Kids Alone! by Craig Schuftan – for developing my passion in learning and books.
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart – I have strong memories of this book and one of the first books I tried to read and critically analyse.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis – I didn’t think much of this book but my analysis of this novel really surprised me and made me think I could be a better reader.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – still one of my favourite books and still happy with the review I wrote for this one.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – I put off reading Austen but when I finally read this, so much was opened up to me about her style and wit.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë – so romantic.
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy – the first book I read and immediately wanted to read again.
You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney – for giving me a current thirst for non-fiction.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – because I found it harder to read than Infinite Jest but I defeated it, I understood it and I got some great stuff out of it.

My Upcoming Reading List

Posted November 22, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 12 Comments

Next week I start a university course called Literature and Politics. I’m actually nervous and excited about starting this. I’ve been doing an English Literature course part time but work has been pretty full on so I’ve moved to online university. This will mean things will be a lot more flexible and should hopefully give me the time to manage both work and study without them interfering. What I wanted to share with you; the entire point of this post was my awesome reading list for the summer thanks to this course.

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

How awesome it this list? So many great books that I’ve read or excited to read. A reading list like this really does wonders to your nerves.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Recommend to my Dad

Posted November 19, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 10 Comments

It’s Tuesday again which means time for another round of Top Ten Tuesday; I like joining in of 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 I’d Recommend to X Person. I decided to pick my dad as he’s the biggest reader in my family (apart from me) and he is the only person I get an opportunity to buy books for as presents. I normally buy him a book that I love but I’m not sure if he reads them; he normally reads old classics. So here are some great books a little out of his comfort zone (but not too much, just enough to broaden his horizon’s) but still brilliant reads.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (actually a default recommendation for everyone)
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Guest Review: Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures

Posted November 14, 2013 by jus_de_fruit in Guest Posts, Historical Fiction / 2 Comments

Title: Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures (Goodreads)
Author: Emma Straub
Published: Pan Macmillan, 2012
Pages: 256
Genres: Historical Fiction
My Copy: Paperback

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

I haven’t found much time to read in recent times. This book has been with me for a while, but I’ve now finished reading it. I never felt like this book was a compulsive page-turner, but it was something enjoyable and familiar that I could easily pick up and return to in the rare times of quiet that I can spend reading.

I don’t feel this book ever had any form of climax; as the title suggests, this book is about life. Laura Lamont, originally Elsa Emerson, grows up in Wisconsin, but eventually finds her way to Hollywood and becomes an actress, wins an Oscar, falls in love, has some children. It could be the story of any woman, although most of us probably lack an Oscar. Beyond the backdrop of Hollywood, this story is pretty ordinary. I found it easily to relate to Laura at different stages in her life.

I think this story is really about the roles we play in our lives. Daughter, Sister, Friend, Lover, Wife, Mother, Grandmother. Life constantly changes us. I think that the acting aspects may have just highlighted these changes more. Laura becomes quite famous, and struggles when she starts to disappear from the public eye. We are constantly changing, becoming different versions of ourselves, to fit the life that happens around us. Sometimes we yearn for the past, other times we look to the future, and there are even moments of contentment where we are happy just where we are in this moment.

I imagine this book would make a great holiday read, or like me, something that is easy to return to when other things are overtaking your life.

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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers I Wish Could Be Redesigned

Posted November 12, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top Ten Tuesday / 8 Comments

Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams – it’s tacky and doesn’t seem to match book 1 in the series.
Fadeout by Joseph Hansen – great novel; very boring and unappealing cover.
The Last Whisper in the Dark by Tom Piccirilli – when you compare it to the first book, it just doesn’t stand out as much.
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan – not a bad cover, I just think it could use with a makeover.
Perchance to Dream by Robert B. Parker – even though it was a terrible book, the cover doesn’t seem to match the Philip Marlowe series.
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell – the original cover is catchy but I don’t feel like it really says anything about the novel.
Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz – dull and unimpressive.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – just feels really plain.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – that face is just too much.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz – while not so bad, it could be improved.