Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Author: L.M. Montgomery
Original title: Anne of Green Gables
Pages: 512
Edition Language: Russian
Series: yes
Format: e-book
Genres: Classics
Goodreads

Blurb:    
    As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage? Anne knows she's not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she'll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
My thoughts:
     I read it so long ago, but I can say for sure that I love it. It is such a light, kind novel with one of the most idealistic characters that I came across in literature. Anne is a picture of an ideal child: hardworking, happy, forgiving and caring. The child that encountered difficulties and unfair discrimination at the early age still was able to save the innocence of character and positive and loving point of view. She did not become hardened in heart, and still was looking for the best even in small things.
     I actually felt nostalgia about feeling and thinking like Anne.When your thoughts are still not clouded by material desires and you contemplate the world, without searching your place and purpose, but just as a pure wonder of nature and creation.
    Reading this book made me slow down a bit and look around and see a nice tree, a small bird, a huge boulder, whose stories we do not know, but it does not that they are not there, we just did not care to stop and find out.
      I might talk about the plot and the character development, but I'd better write about the light and easy feeling I had after reading this book and happy smile that I have on my face when I remember about Anne Shirley's story and her adventures.

Rating:  

    4/5 

Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop

Author: Fuchsia Dunlop
Original title: Shark's Fin And Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Pages: 554
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: Kindle Edition
Genres: Cookbook, Travel Writing 
Goodreads

Blurb:
English woman moves to Chengdu, China for post-graduate study only to end up as the first Westerner to train at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine. The author’s following 14 years of Chinese culinary exploration is recounted in this memoir/travelogue/cookbook. This is a very informative book about Chinese food culture and particularly Sichuanese cuisine.

My thoughts:
      For no reason this book took me ages to finish: a memoir about China written by a western woman. In the end, I was so happy finally to finish it. Dunlop really knows Chinese cuisine and culture, but in her book she does not say much about herself. When she spent all that time in China, was she sick? Did she experience homesickness? She tells us she had a tough time in the beginning of her year in Chengdu, but then stops telling about anything apart from her culinary experience. I find the first parts of the book, which are mostly a memoir of her early experiences in Chengdu in the 90s is interesting and inspiring, while the second part of the book was less gripping.
    The author's love of food really comes forward, and it goes without saying that this is not a book you should read if you are hungry. It's also not a book you should read if you have a soft sport for animals and you are quite conventional in food.
  

 A well balanced Sichuan meal ‘will awaken your tastebuds through the judicious use of chilli oil, stimulate your tongue and lips with tingly Sichuan pepper, caress your palate with a spicy sweetness, electrify you with dry fried chillies, soothe you with sweet and sour, calm your spirits with a tonic soup’.

   The only thing I can say for sure I did not like are the recipes. First of all, I do not find a mix of memoir and cookbook very enchanting idea. Here I am reading about delicious meal in a train and the next page is actually the recipe. So what I am supposed to do with it in the middle of nowhere? Next thing is cooking itself: to cook Sichuanese dish you need Sichuanese spices and ingredients. I know you can find anything in the shops now, but really anything? So I find this part of Dunlop’ writing is useless and absolutely out of place.
      Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Firstly, I liked Dunlop’s style of writing. Secondly, I think she does a great job of explaining some things about Chinese food that is not immediately obvious to many Westerners. And finally, she does do some interesting exploration of some sensitive political areas as the legacy of Mao and situation in removed regions; as well as spiritual matters:  believes, habits, superstitions. This book let me know the Chinese culture more, even though it is only about ther Sichuan region and through the taste and smell perspective

Rating: 

    2/5   

Stay Close by Harlan Coben

Author: Harlan Coben 
Original title: Stay Close 
Pages: 416
Edition Language: English
Series: no 
Format: Paperback
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Mystery 
Goodreads

Blurb:
Megan is a suburban soccer mom. She’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a perfect house and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead-end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case - a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago. As the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all.

My thought: 
     This was a good serial killer mystery with several different past and current stories coming together. Three people all with a hidden past: Megan and Ray are both hiding from it; Broome, the detective, is trying to reveal the past to find peace. Megan, with the help of a friend, come to the point when she cannot run from the past anymore and wants to come clean, so she contacts Jack to give him her version of the murder 19 years ago. So from this point the plot develops really quickly. I was quite surprised that Broome, who could not meet any ends for 19 years, now so easily progresses in the investigation. There are also the strange couple of mob killers to spice up the plot, but does not fit too much, in my opinion. Frankly speaking, I was not impressed by the book, but at the same time I could not put it down. 

Rating:

    3/5 

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

Author: Amy Schumer
Original title: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Autobiography, Memoir
Format: audio
Read by: Amy Schumer
Duration: 8h6m

Blurb:
In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is - a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.

My thoughts:
           I truly liked the book. It is definitely not a masterpiece and for sure it is not the read for everyone. But being a grown up woman I can relate to so many things Amy is talking about.
I had no idea who Amy Schumer is when I started the book, and was I shocked by the content of the book at the beginning? Hell yeh!  She speaks freely about many girls' subjects, even about the ones which are discuss in close friendly circles only. Maybe she is too open in revealing her faults and intimate parts of her life, but on the other hand who talks about that really? Mothers? There are some things you cannot even talk with your mom about. Friends? They can be the same inexperienced as you are. But some topics need to be raised. Perhaps the biggest minus of the book is that the narration is too blunt, no hints or reading between lines, Amy delivers her opinion, without much space for discussion, but I guess this is her style on stage and life, so it is not bad after all.
           In any case, if you know Amy Schumer and looking for some fun, this is not the book to choose. Actually it is there is a lot of speculation on many important topics: as domestic violence, parent-children relationship, rape, gun prohibition and gender inequality. Of cause, there are sparkles of humor (how it is without it?) but, I had a feeling that the book is not only aiming to entertain the reader, but educate to some extent.

 Rating: 

    4/5 

Midnight Pirates by Ally Kennen

Author: Ally Kennen
Original title:  Midnight Pirates   
Pages: 227
Edition Language: English
Series: no 
Format:  Paperback
Genres: Children, YA, Fiction 
Goodreads

Blurb:
     Midnight pirates is about a young girl Miranda and her two brothers, Jackie aged 10 and Cal aged 17. This story is set by the beach in a hotel named the Dodo. But disaster strikes as the three of them are sent to boarding school while their parents are going to a wedding and they will never see the bankrupt Dodo hotel ever again. Only it doesn't go quite as planned.
      After her younger brother Jackie escapes back to the Dodo hotel Cal and Miranda have no other option but to go after him and miss the train to the school. Shortly after arriving at the hotel they receive guests, but little do they know the guests true identity. Can they save the Dodo? And what are the guest's true colours? 

My thought:
     I was not expecting much from this book as it's not my usual cup of tea. But the book is good: it has a solid plot, suspense, and mystery. Every character has its own voice and opinion. However good it is I still had major issues reading it. From the point of view of a young reader the book is full of rebellion, challenges, adventure and freedom. From an adult point of view I can see only disobedience, disrespect towards adults, danger and irresponsibleness.
      I really disliked the children from the book because of their lies to the parents and their irresponsible behavior. One situation just killed me: when they got new guests, they could not actually provide any basic comfort to the guests (and we must take into consideration that all children were involved into the hotel business from early childhood); the maximum effort was to provide semi-clean linen; the rest is the description of how they enjoyed their freedom and idleness. Really? That’s the idea of 17 year old and 15 year old about hotel management. Then I guess parents made some major mistakes in their upbringing. That all really gets in the way and spoiled the impression, and I tried to like the characters, really... but just could not.
      From the adventure point of view I have no problems (keeping in might again that this is the book for 11-13 year old). Real pirates, danger to kill the environment of the bay, loneliness, fear and courage: everything was in the order and from this perspective I liked the book.
      Altogether, I think it is an easy, exciting read for teenagers, but the characters’ behavior does not set a good example.

Rating: 

    2/5 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Author:  Paula Hawkins
Original title: The Girl on the Train
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Format: audio
Read by: Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher
Duration: 11h1m
Goodreads

Blurb:
EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

My thoughts:
      What would I say? I was wrong not to read the book for such long time. Actually, after all those movies based on books I am afraid to pick up the original. I was not taken nor by the book description neither by the movie trailer. How wrong I was.
       The first thing I liked is the 3 women narration. I actually quite love this technique in books, it refreshes the narration and abrupt changes from one character to another keeps you on edge and helps brush up everything you know about the character. Though, in this book only narration of Rachel and Megan were audible and had character development, Anna’s part was rather weak and not credible.
         This book has been compared to "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn but honestly, I don't see any comparison at all besides from them being written within the same genre. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much. I was impressed what with the author’s creation: Rachael – such a miserable drunk head, broken, without self-esteem, useless and paranoid character.  I liked the inner monologues in her head, the perception of reality and despair and loneliness that surrounded her. It felt so real. The hopelessness she felt all of the time and such a severe desolation worked her in a state that the touch of a stranger made her shiver and her stomach flip. Everyone in this book is terrible, especially a drunk and unstable Rachael and as a result, this book delivers good work in character study and development.
       As for the plot itself, it was not so complicated or mysterious: a murder, attempts to get away with it and one unreliable witness – nothing new. But I liked the way the story was revealed: a big deal of manipulation and mistrust, every page throws suspicion on a different character (I actually was suspecting even Anna); the ending fell a little flat for me though.

Rating: 

    4/5     

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Author:  Cornelia Funke 
Original title: Tintenherz
Pages: 543
Edition Language: English
Series: Inkworld #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Fiction
Goodreads 

Blurb:

     12 year-old Meggie lives with her father, Mortimer, a bookbinder. Mo never reads stories aloud to Meggi. He also never talks about her mother or tells her different stories that Meggi does not believe in her existence anymore.

When Meggi is 12, Capricorn, an unknown villain is on a hunt to find Mortimer and get hold of a secret book her father possesses. They have to leave their home behind and while they are on the run, Meggi discovers her father's secret and, along with the help of Dustfinger (a very strange and unusual person) and Meggi's eccentric aunt Elinor, fights to free her father and destroy Capricorn.

My thoughts: 

 I took the synopsis from Goodreads, but have to cut it greatly. Really? You want to tell everything in the blurb?  The biggest suspense of this book was actually to find out what was the secret Maggi's father had.

     I have big expectations for a book, it was also easy read, but I believe, this book should be read by me at least 20 years earlier and I would not classify this book "for every age".

     I cannot say I did not like it or place my finger exactly on what irritated me, but it just left me untouched. The plot of Inkheart does not slow down; I love that, through the characters are a little irritating and lack development. Sometimes their decisions are on the edge of stupidity and I do not mean a child, but grown-ups. I didn't feel like I really knew the characters and connected to them.

     Taking into consideration that this is a children’s book (I do not think it is YA) it is quite good. The plot development is consistent, the villains are scary, but not bloody, there is no open violence in the book just references, which makes it accessible for younger children. But overall, it was a little too long and sometimes you'd think you're just going in circles. I expected more magic as well; but it is more realistic than magical book.

      What I really loved about the story that it heavily promotes the value of reading. Reading about books and how people value and worship them is very inspiring and captivating. Reading opens horizons and this is the right message for young reader.

Rating: 

    3/5 

Fortunately, the Milk... by Neil Gaiman

Author: Neil Gaiman
Original title: Fortunately, the Milk...
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Pages: 160
Edition Language: Czech
Series: none
Genres: Children, Humor, Fantasy, Sci-fi
Goodreads
 
     Surprisingly I wanted to do a review on this book...
     This is a funny short book for children age under 10. I bought it for my nephew as a Christmas present and you know how it is with children books nowadays; you need to check the content by yourself; as I have already seen so many books with a lot of violence and sometimes really crappy plot that it can be not only disturbing for a child but dangerous. So I sat down to check the book and it was just magic. I was having a silly smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. I just loved the way it was written with all the plot twists and interconnection. It was brilliantly constructed, logical and funny. The illustrations by Riddell are so vivid and witty.
      The mother of one family leaves for a couple of days and now dad's duty is to take care of the kids. But the most terrible thing happens the next morning: it's time for breakfast but there is no milk for the cereals!!! Dad went out to buy some and it took him a little bit longer then needed. When his kids ask him why he was late, he tells them the most incredible story full of pirates, vampires, dinosaurs, UFO and, of course, piranhas.

"If the same object from two different times touches itself, one of two things will happen: either the Universe will cease to exist, or three remarkable dwarfs will dance through the streets with flowerpots on their heads."  

      What a silly funny little sci-fi adventure for children this book is. Waiting for a review from my nephew))

Rating: 

    3/5 

Top Ten Tuesday and Monthly Recomendation

           It happened that the topic for TTT for Dec. 6 and Monthly Recommendation group is the same this time. So to avoid two posts I have it in one. First I will have a list of all new authors this year I get to know so far and then I will mentioned the ones I recommend.

 Topic: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2016 

1. Jo Nesbø

2. Ransom Riggs

3. Marissa Meyer

4. Ali Smith

5. Jojo Moyes

6. Michael Punke

7. Billie Letts

8. Martin McDonagh
9. Gillian Flynn
10. Neil Gaiman

        The following authors I would greatly recommend: Ransom Rigg, Jo Nesbø and Martin McDonagh.
      There is no point to talk about Ranson Riggs and about his trilogy: it is captivating and original in plot and format. I am waiting for future book to see now his talent develops.
      Jo Nesbø is an author that is getting better from book to book. His writing skills are improving radically and his imagination is amazing.
       Martin McDonagh is an English/Irish playwright, screenwriter and film director. The plays are full of humor and drama. There is something in the character development and their attitude to life that you can always recognize McDonag' s mastermind.

       I would also like to mention Marissa Meyer. I believe her Luna chronicles are insane, but writing style does not appeal to me so much, in opposition to the great story development.

      My opinion of the authors is strictly based on the books I read. There are chances that I've got not the best book or I was not in a mood for this or that book. So the opinion is subjective and can be altered later on with a better book.

      Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Visit their blog for more details on how to participate. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list on specific topic.   

  

     In this group we will have a monthly theme for book recommendations to share on your BookTube channel or blog. It is pretty relaxed with when you can upload, but we recommend that you upload the first full week of each month. You are welcome to recommend as many books as you want.  We would love for you to share the books you would recommend based on each months topic, no matter how many you have.  For more details visit the a group on Good Reads named Monthly Recommendations. This group was created by Trina from Between Chapters and Kayla Rayne.

November 29, Top Ten Tuesday

        Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. Visit their blog for more details on how to participate. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list on specific topic. 

Topic: Holiday Gift Guide freebie - 10 books to buy for your dad

 

      My father is a huge fan of detective stories, mysteries and action books. At the same time he likes politic memoirs and philosophical works. But I also try to keep him up to date and provide new contemporary books and new authors. So this is going to be the mixture of everything.

1. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith 

2. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

3. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

4. In Search of Lost Time/Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

5. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

6. The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst 

7. The Hours by Michael Cunningham 

8. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

9. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

10. The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

Actually this is quite a nice list and I would like to read all the books myself.

Ali Smith, Hotel World

Author: Ali Smith
Original title: Hotel World
Pages: 236
Edition Language: English
Publisher: Penguin Books
Series: none
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Year: 2001
Goodreads

Plot:
There are five characters, two relatives, three strangers: a homeless woman, a hotel receptionist, a hotel critic, the ghost of a hotel chambermaid, and the ghost’s sister. These women tell a story and it is through this story. The common link between all those characters is the Global Hotel. The dead girl Sara worked there as chambermaid and died in an accident falling in a shaft of a dumbwaiter. It is not clear till the chapter “Future in the past” was this an accident or the suicide. The homeless woman Else is begging in front of the hotel every day. One cold night she is allowed to take a room free of charge by a hotel receptionist Lise. The fourth person is Penny, the hotel critic is disturbed in her room by a chambermaid who is trying to open the shaft. Penny tried to help the girl and looking around for help. Then she meets Else on the flour and all 3 opened the shaft. The chambermaid is actually the dead girl’s younger sister who wanted to see the place of death and find some peace at last.

About the author:  
    Ali Smith is a writer, born in 1962 in Inverness, Scotland, to working-class parents. She was raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at Aberdeen, and then at Cambridge, for a Ph.D. that was never finished. In a 2004 interview with writing magazine Mslexia, she talked briefly about the difficulty of becoming ill with chronic fatigue syndrome for a year and how it forced her to give up her job as a lecturer at University of Strathclyde to focus on what she really wanted to do: writing. Openly gay, she has been with her partner Sarah Wood for 17 years and dedicates all her books to her. Taken from Goodreads

Themes: 
Coping with grief and tragedy: After the sudden death of Sara Wilby we can see how the grief affects the people around and how each of then trying to cope with it. The only male character in this book apart from the father is Duncan, the witness to Sarah's death and his character shows that mourning is not exclusive to family or close personal friends of those who have died.

Sexuality/Sexual awakening: This topic is slightly covered. Sara Wilby's sexual awakening starts a week or two before her death when she meets the girl in the watch shop. Sarah is amazed and confused about this side of her attraction and suffering with the first love fears. The shop girl shared interest in Sara, which is only conveyed briefly near the end of the novel—reveal.

The flow of time: We can see a lot of indication through the story about time importance. How fragile the moment might be and how much a small fragment of time can contain.

My thoughts:
I cannot remember a book recently which I was enjoying less than Hotel World. A book without story development, but only emotions and stream of conscience. I hope that all Ali Smith’s fans will ever forgive me, but I found this book utterly boring and unexciting. The anticipation of the story ranged from boring to frustrating. Some days I was forcing myself to get the book and continue reading. The Sara’s sister’s chapter was a total nightmare with 31 pages of unpunctuated stream of conscience writing. This was like I'd read poetry. The story stayed in the fog even though there are 5 main narrators. The only chapter that made any sense was chapter "Perfect". Here was at least some story and character development, some inner wishes and thought shared and some interaction between the characters.

Rating:  

    2/5