Browsing tag: books

Up there behind food, books have to rank as the second love of my life. So, with my 100 books in 2011 challenge in full swing, you’re in for a treat: recaps of some of my best reads every month or so!

Here are three novels I recently ploughed through:

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Summary: WWII through the eyes of a young girl and the residents of her sleepy suburban street.

Despite a slow start, The Book Thief slowly reels you in before proceeding to wring out your heart. I really can’t say more than that. A must-read.

We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver

Summary: A mother comes to terms with the fact that her son is a psychopathic mass murderer.

What shapes us most: nature, or nurture? Are some people just not cut out to be mothers? Can one fake a maternal bond, and what are the consequences when a child feels unloved and unwanted? These are the questions Shriver tackles head-on. Kevin is a bad seed, but his mother is far from blameless. Just how far he will go to take everything she has – until all she has left is him – is as tragic as it is frightening.

Cracked Up To Be – Courtney Summers

Summary: Disturbed Miss Perfect finally cracks – but why?

After such heavy reading, I desperately needed to lighten up. This was the first YA novel I’d touched in forever, and in comparison to what I’d been reading, it seemed insanely short. While the subject matter is dark, Parker is intensely intelligent, self-aware and in possession of a wicked tongue. Watching her manipulate others while trying to come to terms with her buried secret is painful, but Summers makes it clear that there’s hope for Parker yet.

What have you enjoyed lately – any recommendations?

I must confess that I have long had an aversion to short stories. I quickly become immersed in the world of my characters. I quickly form attachments to these almost-real people, and to their welfare. I loathe ambiguity, and hate being left hanging. Short stories, therefore, have always been avoided.

The Thing Around Your Neck changed all that. This is the most beautiful, heartbreaking collection of stories I have read in a long time – if not ever. Exploring themes of family, guilt, loneliness, fear, obligation, culture, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie contrasts life in Nigeria with life in the West through a rich cast of (mostly) female narrators, strong, fully fleshed out figures who live life for the most part with what they’re given, because in Africa, to dictate your own life is almost unheard of.

If like me your world history knowledge, particularly of Africa, is pitiful, you’ll gain so much from her sketches of life in the dusty harmattan, her descriptions of simple food and rich spices, the unfamiliar, many-syllabled names a western tongue trips over.

I came away feeling the richer for having read it and being a part of those characters’ lives for that brief period. That’s all I could ask for, really.

And if you want to add me on Goodreads, I am, as always, eemusings.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up this book. The cover suggested a light, humorous take on consumerist society – an indictment of the whole keeping up with the Jones’ mentality. In fact, it’s a rather scholarly analysis of modern happiness that was much more intelligent than I bargained for and leaves the reader with plenty to mull over.

Status Anxiety starts off rather dry, but picks up once it begins delving into theories on class and society – think Marx and the like. Feudal society probably sounds awful to you or I – peasants toiling in the fields, medieval landlords lording it over their servants. But he argues that everyone was in fact kinder to one another back then (perhaps as there was virtually no hope of ever escaping your “place”, so those higher up the ladder didn’t feel threatened), and that most people were actually content. It’s a fascinating concept. Everyone knew their place in a hierarchical, class based system, but at the same time, were valued for the role they played.

Were we really happier before the dawn of capitalism?

Now anyone can theoretically become anything they want, but failure is like a moral condemnation. And most of us will fail at something at some point. Some failures (failing to lose that last 1.5kg) are no big deal, while others (failing to get a promotion) sting – and they’re much more visible. Our accomplishments, or lack thereof, are an indication of our worth as a human being. Yet isn’t our morality – the content of our character? – a better measure than our worldly feats?

He writes that we either need to increase our achievements or reduce our desires. Surround ourselves with people on our level: think big fish in a small pond rather than vice versa. Happiness, it seems, is relative. Makes perfect sense to me.

What do you think? Could or would you be happier in a simpler society?

Although I’ve outgrown my generic chick-lit phase, I’m still a sucker for chick-lit with intelligence, wit and preferably a twist. If that describes you, the Ivy Chronicles is worth a read – it ticks all the boxes, and even better, is based on author Karen Quinn’s real life experiences advising rich families on how to get their precious sons and daughters into the most elite preschools.

Oh yes, and if that’s your kind of thing, it’s also very Jewish (chopped liver features prominently throughout – something I didn’t realise was a traditional Jewish dish. Then again, I don’t know a whole lot about being Jewish, apart from what little I learned in the Bible back in the days.)

Here’s the basic gist: Ivy gets managed out of her corporate banking job, catches her husband cheating on her, moves to a tiny downmarket apartment and moves her daughters into public school. Once she thought she could sink no further – auditioning for a reality TV makeover – her best friend suggests starting up a service to help feckless parents ensure their children get into the best schools that they can. (There’s also a bit of fun along the way as you try to guess which of her two love interests will end up being THE ONE.)

Conversational, smart and wildly unrealistic, it’s pure escapism – and best of all, it doesn’t suffer from poor editing as many other inferior books in the genre do. It’s only the series of unlikely events that drive the plotline that are right out of left field. The amounts of cash being thrown around, on the other hand, are no doubt on the money.

In chapter two, Ivy dismally surveys her expenses and comes up with the conclusion that it’s all “boring but necessary” stuff. The paragraph takes up half a page; highlights include a $120k mortgage, $50k private school fees, $25k to charity, $22k birthday parties, $50k clothes, $12k hair, $74k servants…get the idea?

The scary thing is, I assume New York’s well-heeled actually spend in this kind of fashion! Otherwise, it’s a hilarious look at life for the privileged Manhattan set. Best of all, I didn’t get hung up on financial envy; it’s just part of the parcel, and there’s much, much more to the book than that.

I hate costume parties. I’m lazy. And self conscious. But one of my best friends from uni is throwing one soon, and we’re all required to dress up as our favourite book characters.

Immediately, Jessica Darling springs to mind. But she lives in Chucks and jeans. Not all that unique. Aside from that, I can only think of Lyra from Northern Lights/Golden Compass.

So…who are your fave book characters that I too might know and love? Jog my memory!