Published in 2000. 50 pages.
This tiny book - which appears to me to have been written as a speech for a college graduation ceremony - is the sort of thing that we all ought to read every year or so: a reminder of what happiness is and where it is to be found. The black-and-white photographs throughout the book illustrate the concepts well.
2008.57
Subtitled Notes Between a Mother and Daughter.
Published in 2007. 220 pages.
After finishing Breaking Dawn - at 756 pages - which followed closely my read of The Host - with 619 pages - this short, touching, easy-to-read book was exactly was I needed!
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the book from Somer at SomeReads. (Thanks again, Somer!) I'd had it on my to-read list since last year, and I had included it on one of my Reading Full Circle Challenge lists. Since then the book was chosen as a Selection for the current Salt Lake County Library Reader's Choice list, which called it "a very quick read that is powerful, touching, and thought-provoking." Thus, the book qualifies for the Triple 8 Challenge in my Salt Lake County Library Reader's Choice category, and it also qualifies for my Every Month is a Holiday list in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Not a bad list of accomplishments for an hour's worth of enjoyable reading!
Other book bloggers' reviews of Life on the Refrigerator Door:
If you have read and reviewed this book, I would love to link your review here. Please leave me a comment or email me your link!
2008.45
Subtitled Murder, Magic, and Madness
at the Fair That Changed America.
Published in 2003. 447 pages (including Notes and Index).
National Book Award Finalist in 2003.
Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime in 2004.
I'm getting terribly behind on my reviews. I finished The Devil in the White City - which was June's pick for Book Buddies - at the end of last month. I had been wanting to read it for some time, and I had borrowed a copy several months ago from my sister Elicia. I'm glad I finally got to it!
In the interest of getting a review (any review!) posted, I'm just going to say that I greatly enjoyed this non-fictional account of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair intertwined with the tale of a serial killer who was operating in that area at the same time. The juxtaposition of these events is brilliant - the contrast between those who were building and creating and one who was cunningly ending life. One especially fun story for me was the creation of the first Ferris Wheel, designed in an attempt to outdo the Eiffel Tower from the previous World's Fair. Well-researched but written more like a novel, The Devil in the White City is a great read!
If you have read and reviewed this book, I would love to link your review here. Please leave me a comment or email me your link!
Published in 2007. 367 pages.
First sentence: Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami.
Last sentence: Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her.
Basic storyline (adapted from Publishers Weekly): Set in Afghanistan, the story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war, and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny is endorsed by custom and law.
Two favorite passages:
But Aziza only muttered contentedly and dug her face in deeper. And when she did that, Mariam swooned. Her eyes watered. Her heart took flight. And she marveled at how, after all these years of rattling loose, she had found in this little creature the first true connection in her life of false, failed connections. [page 226]
Though there had been moments of beauty in it, Mariam knew that life for the most part had been unkind to her. But as she walked the final twenty paces, she could not help but wish for more of it. She wished she could see Laila again, wished to hear the clangor of her laugh, to sit with her once more for a pot of chai and leftover halwa under a starlit sky. She mourned that she would never see Aziza grow up, would not see the beautiful young woman that she would one day become, would not get to paint her hands with henna and toss noqul candy at the wedding. She would never play with Aziza's children. She would have liked that very much, to be old and play with Aziza's children. [pages 328-329]
Published in 2001. 664 pages.
First sentence: I could hear a roll of muffled drums.
Brief plot summary: Told from the viewpoint of little-known Mary Boleyn (the "other" girl of the title), this is the story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII.
Why I read this book: A friend recommended this book to me some time ago, but I hadn't gotten to it yet. In December, I decided to put it on my 2008 TBR Challenge list, and then when Emily picked it as our IRL book club read for February, I had to read it now.
What I thought: When I was a child, historical fiction was a favorite genre of mine. I haven't read a lot of it in recent years, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I only had a cursory knowledge of Tudor England before reading The Other Boleyn Girl, but I'm eager now to learn more. Philippa Gregory appears to research her topics well, even if some people have taken exception to her conclusions. She certainly writes a compelling story. As she has stated,
I am very pleased when I can tell a slightly different story from the conventional one, especially if it makes readers see the more usual story in a different light. I like to give people a sense of a different sort of past. I like to challenge the conventional views.
"If women could only have more," I said longingly. "If we could have more in our own right. Being a woman at court is like forever watching a pastry cook at work in the kitchen. All those good things, and you can have nothing." [p. 304.]
The words froze on my pen, I could not say that I regretted loving William, for every day I loved him more. In a world where women were bought and sold as horses I had found a man I loved; and married for love. I would never suggest that this was a mistake. [p. 518]
Back on November 11, I posted about Joy's Reading Full Circle Challenge. I'd intended to put together my list and update that post - but it's been so long now, that I decided I ought to make an entirely new post.
By way of review: The purpose of this challenge is to have fun with words and see how your books are linked together. To play, use the common words from six or more book titles to connect each title with the following title. The last title in the list needs to share a word with the first title making it a full circle.
Making the list was the fun part of the challenge - and the challenging part too! And, yes, I got a little bit out of control. So here are my three lists, with notations of the challenge(s) for which I'm reading each book:
Joy is at it again! This is a "challenge", but it's not your ordinary challenge. There are no new books required! The purpose of this challenge is to have fun with words and see how all your books are linked together. Here's how to play: Use the common words from six or more book titles to connect each title with the following title. The last title in the list needs to share a word with the first title making it a full circle.
I'm going to work with my various lists and see what I can come up with. Then I'll come back and update this post!
