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Lireacan's Reading Log

líreacán

I have decided to begin the 50 book challenge - read 50 books in a year. I started today with a short novella to get the ball rolling and finished it in one sitting, having a day off today!

BOOK 1

Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates

"A bright talented junior at Catamount College in the druggie 1970s, Gillian Brauer strives to realise more than a poet's craft in her workshop with the charismatic, anti-establishment professor Andre Harrow. For Gillian has fallen in love - with Harrow, with his secluded cottage, and with the mystique of his imposing French wife, Dorcas. As if mesmerised, Gillian enters the rarefied world of the Harrows. And there she learns the full meaning of Dorcas's provocative motto, 'we are beasts and this is our consolation."

As previously stated I read this novella in one sitting, not one of my favourite things I have ever read, but intriguing nonetheless. Its a story of complete obsession and I think of how people in authority positions can still take advantage of even grown, adult people.

It was a good story to start the challenge with, and have left myself a few extra days to start reading something longer!

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líreacán

BOOK 2

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Blurb:

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve year old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Second book of the 50 book challenge. I had previously read A Thousand Splendid Suns and while I preferred it (maybe because it is based around women), this was also a great story. It was difficult to read at some times, and I could imagine the film version being very emotional.

One thing that I noticed was in the back of my version, is a reading guide, perhaps a sign of the times, that book clubs are now popular? Perhaps.

Score: 4/5

líreacán

BOOK 3

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Blurb:

This stunning and elegiac novel propelled Huraki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene and showed that the master genre bender could tug at our heart strings as effectively as the Beatles' song 'Norwegian Wood.' Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual obsession is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercly independent and sexually liberated young woman.

A magnificent blending of the music, the mood and the ethos that was the 60's with the story of one college student's romantic coming of age, Norwegian Wood brilliantly recaptures a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love

I picked this book up because the song is one of my favourites of the Beatles. Its a really passionate story, with running themes of suicide, withdrawal and sex. The characters are all odd balls really and it reminded me a little of the style of Catcher in the Rye (which happens to be mentioned a few times in the book). In looking around about the author and reviews of the book, it seems his other works are even more bizarre. Might look them up over the course of this 50 Book Challenge...

Score: 3.5/5

líreacán

BOOK 4

Saturday by Ian McEwan

Blurb:

Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man - a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown up children. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window and filled with a growing unease. As he looks out at the night sky he is troubled by the state of the world - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat.

Later, as Perowne makes his way through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protesters, a minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion that Henry's earlier fears seem about to to be realised.

This was the third McEwan novel I've read, and as usual it was great. The language he uses is always simple but meaningful and although I didn't love it as much as Atonement, I preferred it to On Chesil Beach.

Score: 4.5/5

líreacán

BOOK 4

The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nightdress by Ross O'Carrol Kelly

I haven't got the book anymore as had to return it to the library (as with Book 5). Needed a bit of light reading over the Christmas period, and always find the series amusing!!! The best part is getting people from other countries to try and read it, they haven't a clue!! "What's 'roysh' mean?" Mwah ha ha. Not the best of the series though, much preferred This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own. Love the introduction of the character of Ronan though!!!

Score: 3.5/5

líreacán

Book 5

The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle.

This was a great contrast to RO'CK!!! It's set near where I live, so it was great to read about places I know well and recognise characters in the people I know!!! I have only seen The Commitments film adaptation and loved it, so loved the book too, The Snapper and The Van were no less funny!!!! A must read for all northsiders, dubliners, irish, everyone!!!

On a side note, was in a shop in Chicago a couple of years back and when he heard our accents asked where we were from in Ireland. To which he replied

The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud.

Took a minute to sink in and boy was I glad when I realised he was quoting!!!!

Score: 4.5/5

Blue-Eyed

Just so you know, you have two "Book 4" 's :rolleyes:

-Blue- :cool:

rosboy

líreacán wrote: »

Book 5

The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle.

This was a great contrast to RO'CK!!! It's set near where I live, so it was great to read about places I know well and recognise characters in the people I know!!! I have only seen The Commitments film adaptation and loved it, so loved the book too, The Snapper and The Van were no less funny!!!! A must read for all northsiders, dubliners, irish, everyone!!!

On a side note, was in a shop in Chicago a couple of years back and when he heard our accents asked where we were from in Ireland. To which he replied Took a minute to sink in and boy was I glad when I realised he was quoting!!!!

Score: 4.5/5

Doesn't that count as three books?

líreacán

Book 7 (Thanks Blue,its a sad day when I can't count...)

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Blurb:

Meet Balram Halwal, the white tiger: Servant, Philosopher, Entrepreneur, Murderer...

Sorry it has been a while folks, I have been reading, just not updating here!! Anyway, this is the Man Booker Prize Winner of last year and a deserving one too. Quite simple to read, an interesting story and an in depth look into the society of India. I was reading this when I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" and I have to say with both combined I really have no interest in visiting India.

I also realised one thing with this book. I have just started reading"Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie which is also a Man Booker winner, and the only other prize winner I have read was "The Life of Pi". It seems to me that a book about India/Indians is the way to go to win a Man Booker!!!

líreacán

Book 8

Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

Blurb:

Examining centuries of myths, half truths and downright lies, Bill Bryson tries to make sense of the man behind the masterpieces. In a journey through the streets of Shakespeare's time, he brings life to the hubbub of Elizabethan England and a host of characters along the way. Bryson celebrates the glory of Shakespeare's language- his ceaseless inventiveness gave us hundreds of now indispensible phrases, images and words - and delights in details of his fall-outs and folios, poetry and plays.

I thought it was high time I read some non-fiction and have always been a fan of Bryson's in the past. This was not some of his best work in my opinion and definitely not one of his most humorous, probably due to the nature of the subject. It was an interesting read, the most interesting thing to be taken from it was the fact that not a whole lot is really known about Shakespeare...

I'd recommend it to the most hardcore of Bryson fans, people interested in Shakespeare himself or the times in which he lived, but otherwise it is pretty missable. I give it a:

Score: 3/5

(Seeing as I forgot a score for White Tiger above, I give it a score of 4/5)

líreacán

Book 9

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Born on the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1,000 other 'midnight's children' all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts. Inextricably linked to his nation, Saleem's story is a whirlwind of disasters and triumphs that mirrors the course of modern India at its most impossible and glorius.

Wow. Finally finished this book. I am reluctant to review it as it has such critical acclaim, winning the Booker of the Bookers and all that jazz. But, I wish I hadn't started it. I did not like it at all and found only a small part, at the start of Book 2 vaguely interesting. I am glad I finished it though, otherwise I might have thought I was mistaken. I was not. Apologies to all the critics out there. Perhaps it was because I have little/no interest/knowledge of India's history that I have to give this book a

Score: 1/5

Onwards and Upwards...9 books in 18 weeks, I am not on target at all, may have to reconsider the amalgamation of the Barrytown trilogy, the next book I have lined up is substantially shorter and hopefully more attention grabbing.

líreacán

Book 10

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

Blurb:

Helen Knightly has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a mother who has none to spare. As this electrifying novel opens, she steps over a boundary she never dreamt she would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems like the fulfilment of a lifetime's buried desire .

Over the next 24 hours her life rushes in at her as she confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads.

This book is by the author of The Lovely Bones which I have never read, so I can't compare it to it, although have read here on this forum and elsewhere that this is not up to the same standard. It was certainly more gripping than my previous book...with an opening line such as "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily", how could it not be?? I enjoyed it, an interesting look into living with someone with a mental illness and the effect it has on the family around them, but I don't think I'll be picking it up again.

Bought 3 books today so will continue my quest this evening. Won't say what they are, you'll have to stay tuned!!!

Score: 3/5

líreacán

Book 11

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Blurb:

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past...

A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars on a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love.

I had previously read Never Let Me Go by the same author and I loved it, the dystopian, strange reality it was about etc, so was expecting something similar here. (I didn't realise that it was a film, or at least didn't make the connection between the names until I read the inner sleeve). Instead this was a story about a real world which existed post WW1 in a Great Britain still with the great houses, the lords and gentlemen etc. It's a very gentle story, a reflection of a butler back on his life in a great house, the meaning of dignity and the role as a butler. Underlying themes are that of loyalty and duty, and missed opportunities for love (although, I didn't really get this til the end...). At times I wanted to shake the main character into HAVING feelings about ANYTHING!!!

I didn't love it as much as Never Let Me Go, but it won't deter me from reading his other works. Another Booker prize winner read with a

Score: 3.5/5

Edit: Just read up on the film there on IMDB and apparently the "love" aspect was a major theme in it, either I am just oblivious or else it was not such a big part in the book, and merely a piece of the "suppression of feelings" theme.

líreacán

Book 12

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

After finishing this book, I lent it to someone so no longer have the blurb. Its an amazing story, eerie, frightening, a warning to the global warming generation!! It wasn't what I was expecting at all, but it really is a great read. But it's the first book in a while that I've gone out of my way to make time to read it.

Basically the story revolves around a nameless man and his son as the travel through post-apocalyptic America trying to survive. There is very rarely other life mentioned, trees are dead, no other species (except a possible dog bark) are encountered and there are very few other characters met in the book, and those that are are largely unsavoury characters.

It's a definite must read for most, so I give it a

Score: 4.5/5

líreacán

Book 13

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

(NO BLURB ON BOOK)

I read On Beautywhile I was on holidays a few years ago and while I know I enjoyed it, I couldn't really tell you now what it was about!! I have a feeling that the same will happen with this book in a few years. It was funny and interesting, but not inspiring for me in any way, so I give it a

Score:3.5/5

líreacán

Book 14

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee

Blurb:

In the heat and bustle of 1950's Hong Kong, newlywed Claire Pendleton is changing from an uptight English wallflower to a beautiful, graceful bloom. Then she meets Will, driver to wealthy Chinese couple the Chens, when she takes the job of piano teacher to their daughter. His enigmatic presence enthrals and excites her.

A decade earlier, with war looming, Eurasian beauty Trudy Liang casts her own spell of fascination. A social butterfly, she is a thing of mystery - and intrigue. She knows everyone worth knowing in Hong Kong - Chinese and foreign, good and bad, rich and poor. Including a newly arrived young Englishman - the magnetic Will Truesdale...

I had high hopes for this book as the cover promises "This season's Atonement". It is also a "Richard and Judy Summer Read", which are surprisingly often great reads. Perhaps it was because of these commendations that I was expecting too much from this story. Atonement it was not.

The story itself was a bit higgildy-piggledey. I think it would have been better told purely about Trudy and Will and that timeline, the decade in the future time was unnecessary, except to reveal somethings about the past which could have been achieved in other ways. I felt the ending was rushed too, which left me with a sour taste.

In my particular copy there is an interview with the author at the back and she says the story began as an idea of an English woman teaching a Chinese girl piano. Perhaps she should have stuck with that idea and wrote the Trudy Liang story separately in another novel. Although this one took her 5 years to write...

Having said all that, the story was interesting in places, so I give it a

Score: 2.5/5

líreacán

Book 15

Karlology by Karl Pilkington

Blurb:

Take a voyage through the strange yet mesmerising void of Karl Pilkington's brain as he embarks on a quest for the knowledge and wisdom he's never had.

A search for truth or a descent into bewilderment? Genius or madness? You decide.

I bought this book having downloaded a sample chapter as a podcast and boy, is it funny!!! It's not amazing literature, but will definitely have you laughing out loud...a great one for a flight or relaxing on the beach, or just to pick up and put down whenever the mood takes you. Found myself laughing audibly on the bus though, so be careful. For what it is I give it a
Score: 4.5/5

líreacán

Book 16

The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant.

Blurb:

In a red-brick mansion near the Marylebone Road, Vivien, a sensitive, bookish girl, grows up sealed off from both past and present by her timid refugee parents. Then a glamorous uncle appears, in a mohair suit, with a diamond watch on his wrist and a girl in a leopard-skin hat on his arm. Why is Uncle Sandor so violently unwelcome in her parents' home? Vivien wants to know.

A good book, not an amazing book though. I enjoyed the setting of the 1970's London and the character Claude. There were a couple of unanswered questions at the end, but perhaps this is deliberate. Or not so much questions as theories... Anyway, an average

Score: 3/5

líreacán

Book17

Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella

Blurb:

For once in Becky Bloomwood's life, things are going smoothly. She's got the dream job as a personal sopper. She's got a fabulous Manhattan apartment with her boyfriend Luke. They've even opened a joint bank account (although they can't quite agree on whether a Miu Miu skirt counts as a household expense).

Then Luke proposes - and all of a sudden life gets hectic. Becky's mum wants her to get married in Oxshott and wear he old frilly wedding dress. Luke's mother wants to host a grand extravaganza at the New York Plaza, complete with woodland glade and the New York Philharmonic.

Becky knows she has to sit down and decide - but to be onest, its a lot more fun tasting cake, trying on dresses and registering wedding presents. Time's ticking by, plans are being made both sides of the Atlantic and soon she realises she's in trouble...

Pure chicklit, read it in one sitting as found it lying around! I have to admot, I do enjoy a good chick lit every now and then. Does exactly what it says in the blurb!! Now...back to proper literature... (for now). Not to be placed on the same list as many of the other books here, but as far as this genre goes, I give it a

Score:4/5

líreacán

Book 18

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Blurb:

In 1960's Nigeria, a country blighted by civil war, three lives intersect. Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university lecturer. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos, to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. The third is Richard, a shy Englishman in thrall to Olanna's enigmatic twin sister. When the shocking horror of the war engulfs them, their loyalties are severly tested as they are pulled apart and thrown together in ways that none of them imagined...

I have been away on holliers for a while, so have got some reading done in the process, this being the first book. I couldn't put it down for the most part, the characters and storylines were intriguing and I learned a little about the tragic history of Nigeria along the way.

It's a winding road of a tale, starting off fairly light hearted and comedic with differences between rural and urban, European and African etc being discussed and used. However, as the book goes on, and the civil war is imminent, the characters are all affected by it and their lives change in dramatic ways, with each coping differently. Some scenes are shocking and there is one particular scene which I found very uncomfortable where a character that has seemed so innocent and respectful takes part in a gang rape of a young woman. This really stayed with me til the end of the story.

It was a compelling story about something I knew very little about and so gets a
Score: 4.5/5

líreacán

Book 19

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Have no blurb for the next few books as left them on holidays!

This was a very intriguing read, written in the style of one person talking to another, but never hearing the reply. An interesting style and really makes you feel part of the story, as if you are being told it face to face. Its basically a story of a Pakistani man and his experience of the American dream that lead him to turn his back on society there. It's refreshing to read about fundamentalism from a different perspective, but unnerving nonetheless. I also found parallels with this story and Haruki Marakami's Norwegian Wood with themes of mental illness etc. It had me gripped to the very last pages so it gets

Score: 4/5

líreacán

Book 20

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Had always meant to read this book, so when taking a trip to the South of France, I decided to finally bite the bullet as the first section of the book is based in Monte Carlo (near Nice for those wondering the French Connection). I usually love these classics with a women herion - Jane Eyre, all Jane Austen, Wuthering Heights etc and this was no exception, even though from a later period. I knew nothing about it before I started to read and I won;t say anything here either as this really enhanced my reading of it, I didn't expect anything when it came along. Some really great themes and definitely one to be revisited with a

Score:4.5/5

líreacán

Book 21

The Game by Neil Strauss

If it didn't say this was a true story on the back cover, I never would have believed it. It follows the story of a journalist, nerdy, average joe kinda guy who works his way up into becoming the world's greatest pick up artist and then his subsequent demise. Courtney Love even makes an appearance as one of his house guests and Tom Cruise as an interviewee. It made me realise though, how easy women are manipulated by the most stupidest things! For example, one of the techniques is called a 'neg' where you subtly insult a women and that leaves her begging for your approval. As a woman, this book made me angry at both men for using these kind of tricks but more so at the ladies for falling for them! Its an hilarious read though, and shows that you don;t have to be Brad Pitt to get the ladies! It was an insight into a world I never knew existed and I give it...
Score: 3/5

líreacán

Book 22

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Again, no blurb as read it on holidays. The story is told as a series of letters sent between the members of the society and an authoress and her publisher and friends that take an interest in the role this society had on the members during the occupation of the Channel Islands during WW2. The form of the letters is an easy one to read, as it makes it simple to pick up and put down whenever, ideal for a holiday read! I hadn't known previously that the islands were occupied by German forces during the war and its always nice to learn something new from a fiction novel. I give it a...

Score:4/5

líreacán

Book 23

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Blurb:

Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters Adi and Linda were no problem during the usually turbulent teens. Now Adi is always fighting for or against something: the environment or the whale or battery farming: while Linda lurches from one unsatisfactory relationship to the next. As if this wasn't enough, Clara, a senior cardiac specialost, has a new job to cope with - and now her ex-husband wants something from her...

For Ania meeting Clara Casey is a miracle. She never intended to leave Poland - but perhaps a new job in a new land will mend her broken heart? Declan is looking forward to joining the clinic - but what should have been a straightforward six-month post brings him far more than expected.

Then there's Father Brian Flynn, whose life is turned upside down when his reputation is threatened: and the beautiful, cheerful nurse, Fiona, who can't leave her troubled past behind...

Ok, so I've reconciled the fact that I will NOT be making the 50 book challenge this year!! But have enjoyed getting back to reading again!! Not much to say about this book, the usual Maeve Binchy chick-lit romantic drama! I've read worse of the same kind of story so its a

Score: 3/5

líreacán

Book 24

The Light in the Window by June Goulding.

Blurb:

In 1951 te young June Goulding took up a position as midwife in a home run by the Sacred Heart nuns. What she witnessed there was to haunt her for the next fifty years.

It was a place of imprisonment and cruelty. A place where women picked grass by hand and tarred roads whilst heavily pregnant. Where they were denied any contact with the outside world, denied basic medical treatment and abused for their 'sins'. Were, worst of all, mothers were expected to raise their babies for three years, at which point they would be sold by the nuns to adoptive parents overseas.

In this highly readable memoir, June Goulding tells her story and those of some of the women who found themselves abandoned, treated harshly and then made to give away their children after three years of caring for them. It is also a story of the power of kindness and hope, and the difference one young woman can make to a great many lives.

Nobody living in Ireland today can deny knowing about the way in which unmarried mothers were treated in the near past. This is a look at the types if institutions that they went to from the perspective of, effectively, an outsider, neither one of the girls, nor the nuns in charge of their upkeep. It is a shocking read, but unsurprising in light of recent events, although the way the women were to keep their children for three years here seems particularly cruel and cold-hearted.

I think everybody should read about these types of scandals that were present in Ireland in our not so distant past, although not necessarily this one. It was a harrowing tale, but quite obviously not written by someone completely used to writing.

Score: 3.5/5

líreacán

Book 25

The Outcast by Sadie Jones

Blurb:

One summer's day in 1957, nineteen-year old Lewis Alridge stands alone at Waterford railway station. The only person awaiting his return is a fifteen year old girl called Kit Carmichael. Like him, she endured a childhood spent in the stifling atmosphere of an English village recovering fromt the ravages of the Second World War.

A decade earlier it was Lewis who waited for his fathers homecoming from the war. His mother, a free-spirited and glamorous woman, holds husband and son in her thrall. But when tragedy strikes, Lewis and his father, unable to console one another, are torn apart by their grief.

Now, from the fractured remains of their old lives, Kit and Lewis must forge their own futures. As menacing as it is beautiful, The Outcast is a devastating portrait of transgression and redemption from an astonishing new voice.

This novel is quiet dark, and even in the lighter aspects of it, an undercurrent of unsteadiness and abnormality runs through it. It's a very enjoyable read, hard to put down in parts as I was hoping it would come good for the main character at the end. It's the story of a different time, where in today's world, counselling and therapy would have been assigned to many of the character's, preventing a lot of the unfortunate incidents in the book.

The front cover quotes some reviews - "Riveting" "Devastatingly good" and "Gripping", all of which are true,

Score: 4/5