So the verdict on my reading challenges this year...

Not so good, I am afraid. I wanted to read 40 books this year but managed to read only 20, and the 20th was a mad dash to finish last night. Below is the break down from the challenges over at Bev's.

Color Coded Reading Challenge

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title/on the cover 

BLACK AND BLUE BY ANNA QUINDLEN

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title/on the cover. RED POPPIES BY ALAI

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title/on the cover. YELLOW BIRDS by KEVIN POWERS

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title/on the cover. Green on Blue by Elliot Ackerman

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title/on the cover.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title/on the cover. 

Spectre Black by J. Carson Black

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title/on the cover. Winter Journey by Diane Armstrong (this was the book I finished last night!)

8. A book with any other color in the title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.). PURPLE CLOUD BY M.P.SHIEL (this is cool sci-fi/fantasy from 1901)

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.). 

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat

Vintage Mystery Challenges

I did not complete my bingo challenges this year but I did get to read some pretty awesome mysteries by some of the best authors (I especially love mysteries from the golden era)

 

 

The body in the library (Agatha Christie)

And then there were none (Agatha Christie)

The circular staircase (Mary Reinhart Roberts, first published 1908)

The Nursing Home murder (Ngaio Marsh, 1935) 

Death at a bar (Ngaio Marsh, 1940)

The moving toyshop (Edmund Crispin, 1946)

 

Silver: 1960-1989

There hangs a knife (Marcia Muller, 1988)

Killing of Katie Steelstock, Michael Gilbert (1980)

Starting the year

 

with a fictionalized account of an Iraq war veteran YELLOW BIRDS by KEVIN POWERS Publication date: September 2012 (Debut novel that won a lot of accolades)

 It intermingles the past with the present (I have heard that it is often a way to soften the effects of what happens in the past- it was done beautifully in The Orphan Master's Son).
 Set in Tal Afar in Iraq, the book is about Bartle, Murph and Bartle's promise to Murph's mother to not let him die. It was no surprise that Murph dies- but why he dies, how he dies and what happens next changes Bartle's life (as if the war itself had not changed him enough)

The next couple of books were Golden-age mystery books

a) The Circular Staircase By Mary Roberts Reinhart

A book of how a spinster's Rachel Innes quiet summer plans turn into something of an adventurous whodunnit. When it involves her niece (Gertrude) and nephew (Halsted), she makes it her mission to find out what is going on in the country house. A story of bank roberry, murder and ghosts!
I enjoyed it the book since I could not stop playing the guessing game (I could hear myself constantly asking- who could it be?) - very entertaining!
Rating ****

b) The Moving Toyshop By Edmund Crispin
A murder in a toyshop (for one night) which turns out to be a grocery store by day- Gervase Fen a funny literature professor at Oxford helps his poet friend Richard Cadogan solve this mystery. Fen is quite daring and usually just dives head-on into any given situation. The final chapters kind of triggered vivid imagery in my head- you the comical Hollywood or Bollywood kind with fights and crowds following the bad guy.
I had a blast with this book-it was a quick read!
Rating ****

A recap of what I read this year

I must say this year has been a good year in terms of the amount of reading I got done. 

First, an update on this year's Reading Challenges

 

Updates on the Color coded challenge

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title 
Blue plate special by Kate Christensen

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
 

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.
White jade by Alex Lukeman

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title
The Poisoned Chocolates Case By Anthony Berkeley

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.
The Ivory Trail by Talbot Mundy

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.)

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.)
The boy in striped pajamas 

For the Vintage mystery challenge,

Mystery of 31 New Inn by Austin Freeman (Category: Murder by the Numbers)
Orange and Yellow Diamond by J.S.Fletcher  (Category: Colorful Crime)
Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective by Frank Pinkerton (Category: Planes, Trains & Automobiles) 
Daffodil mystery by Edgar Wallace 

Other books this year
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
The Baker's Daughter
The Hobbit
The Shiva Trilogy
The Dinner
How should a person be
Beautiful Ruins
The Orphan master's son
The litigator
What the dead know
The Bankster

I had a goal of reading 24 books this year, I did slightly better than that! 

Next year, hope to read many more and probably attend a few book club meeting as well

Cheers
 

Reading Challenges- an update

 

Updates on the Color coded challenge

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title
2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title-

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title- 
The Poisoned Chocolates Case By Anthony Berkeley

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title-  

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.
The Ivory Trail by Talbot Mundy

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.)-

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.)



A vintage mystery mini-challenge: must read 4 vintage books in one of the categories mentioned by Dec 31st (doable you think, I say you think?!!)

Updates on the Vintage Mystery mini challenge- I AM DONE; not quite there! As of June 12th, 2013- I am done with this challenge... yippee!
Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Category: Wicked women) this is neither a mystery nor have I finished it :)
Mystery of 31 New Inn by Austin Freeman (Category: Murder by the Numbers)
Orange and Yellow Diamond by J.S.Fletcher  (Category: Colorful Crime)
Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective by Frank Pinkerton (Category: Planes, Trains & Automobiles) 
Daffodil mystery by Edgar Wallace

If you have suggestions for me- please do let me know. And in case you are interested, hop on over to Bev's to sign up for the challenge.

Few more books

For the color coded challenge- finished Mundy's Ivory trail


My impressions: For about 50-75 pages into the book, I was unsure as to
whether I would ever finish this book "white" ivory hunters. With such flowery words and description of the wide variety of geographical locations (mostly deep into the African continent) and the people of different lands, it was really hard to follow. And then, it happened, I could not put the book down- it had a certain pace to it and reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean. Mundy takes us on this adventure and does it so eloquently. I was thoroughly impressed.
Do keep in mind that this book was published in 1919.


I also read- Immortals of Meluha (the first book of the Shiva trilogy)
It is a fast paced book and I did finish it but seemed to lack originality and I did not like it that much. There were hints of few other books I have read, some Bollywood movies I have seen. The book is about the ascent of Shiva from being a simple Tibetan tribal chief to Neelkanth (the one with blue throat), saviour of Meluha.
It is one of those books that is just alright.

Not-so-recent reads

Before an emergency flight to India (a while ago in May), the wise guy bought two books (e-versions for the iPad). I had not finished two books in a week in a long time (not after those crazy Jeffrey Archer days as an undergrad). The books are very similar sounding and I did feel like Brad Thor's was much more fast-paced than the one by Ben Coes.

Power Down by Ben Coes; a terrorist plot to cripple the United States by blowing off its energy supplies and Dewey Andreas is a serious threat to this plot

Brad Thor's Lions of Lucerne; Scott Harvath a secret sevice agent who is out to find the kidnapped President (of United States) and avenge the death of his co-workers


Henry James's 1880 Washington Square

A simple story about the relationship between a brilliant father and his plain daughter; a dominating brother and his sisters and a love affair gone wrong.

A must read classic!

Belly of Paris by Emile Zola

Belly of Paris by Emile Zola

The sights and sounds of Les Halles in Paris complete with the smells of fresh fish, butchered meat, fresh vegetables and fruits and fresh baked french beauties. Emile Zola took me on this amazing journey into Paris of around 1860 and into the day to day lives of Parisiens. It is about Florence Quenu (a political prisoner from Guyana who escapes) who returns to Paris and is reunited with half-brother who runs a charcuterie with his wife. The story, despite the apparent lack of plot, takes you through a journey of how people's reactions to a stranger in their town. The rumors that are spread, the complaints that are made, the love affairs that are kindled- all by this one stranger in their town!

And if you like a book that includes food as a major part of the story- this one is definitely for you.

Read it- today!

Two thumbs from me...

Jean-Do

Last month's book club which I did not go to (may I add...) was all about Jean-Dominique Bauby's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon).
Bauby, Jean-Do to his friends, was the editor of the famous French Elle magazine. Almost at the end of 1995, he suffered a massive stroke that left him in a coma for nearly 20 day. He woke up only to find himself a victim of the "locked-in" syndrome wherein his mental faculties were intact but his body was paralyzed (all he could do was blink his left eye). The book is devoid of self-pity or even anger.
He dictated this book alphabet by alphabet and blinking when the correct one was mentioned.


This is a beautiful memoir that shows the authors' courage and wit. A heart-wrenching narrative of what happened to him as a person who can think but cannot say a word. Bauby talks about food, his girlfriend, his children-

"Once, I was a master of recycling leftovers. Now I cultivate the art of simmering memories. You can sit down to a meal at any hour, with no fuss or ceremony. If it's a restaurant, no need to call ahead. If I do the cooking, it is always a success"

A very poignant story that at times is witty and funny even (you wonder the how resilient this man must have been). The English translation is really good- not that I have read the French version.

"Today is Father's Day. Until my stroke, we had felt no need to fit this made-up holiday into our emotional calendar. But today we spend the whole of the symbolic day together, affirming that even a rough sketch, a shadow, a tiny fragment of a dad is still a dad"

Bauby died about a year or so later, you can read more about him here and here.

A must-read, really!

 

A good read

Ha Jin's relatively unknown novel "In the Pond" was published in 1998. The book set in Communist China around the time of cultural revolution, takes as its protagonist, a small town Harvest Fertilizer maintenance employee Shao Bin. Bin with his wife and a two year old daughter live in a 12 by 20 foot room. The story begins when Bin's application for a larger house in the employee quarters is rejected despite is seniority in the company. He is rejected because of the rampant corruption at the higher level. A really quick read, funny at times deals with some weighty issues- power, corruption, art and vanity. Shao Bin sets out to seek justice through art (he was a self taught artist), the constant struggle between him the two powerful figures at the company, his alienation among other workers, his wife and her struggles- all these give the story its poignance.
Personally, I did not like Shao Bin- I thought he was egotistical and used everyone to further his own agenda. Doing the things that he did during a revolution, I was surprised at the happy ending, at least for Shao Bin.  I did love the book. It gave me a glimpse into a society which I am so far removed from and have never been able to fathom. Can't wait to read Ha Jin's well acclaimed book "Waiting".

James Baldwin

If you are looking for something to cheer you up- this certainly then is NOT for you! A very simple, yet powerful book written about the isolation felt by homosexual men. This second novel by Baldwin was first published in 1956.
Almost every male character in the book is homosexual and the ways of rich men buying the services of and in fact having a sense of entitlement of the younger, vulnerable out-of-towners was disheartening. There is David, an American so ashamed and afraid of his sexuality- he flees to Paris to save himself from embarrassment.  In Paris, with no money in hand, he is forced to get help from Jacques. Jacques was the reason that David and Giovanni meet. Giovanni works at a bar owned by Guillame in Paris. Hella was one odd woman out- David's girl friend who is off in Spain as she takes a break from the relationship and my be even Paris. It was during this time that David and Giovanni's relationship and love for each other blossoms. The end is quite tragic (I will not tell you what happened) but I would just say that I went through myriad of emotions. I am still unsure if I hate David- I was definitely furious with his dishonesty- not just to himself, but he was dishonest with Hella, Giovanni and pretty much every one else! I am also not able to fathom why Giovanni would love David so much and would need him so much for his survival? The title itself has many interesting metaphorical connotations (you have to read it to understand it).

Baldwin himself, as an isolated gay black man in the 50's moved to Paris and when he finished this manuscript his publisher suggested that he might as well burn it. You can read all about it here, here or here.

I will leave you with David's words-

"What happened was that, all unconscious of what this ennui ... meant, I wearied of the motion, wearied of the joyless seas of alcohol, wearied of the blunt, bluff, hearty, and totally meaningless friendships, wearied of wandering through the forests of desperate women, wearied of the work which fed me only in the most brutally literal sense" 

Must Read!

Laura Childs- mystery or misery

 "There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts"- Charles Dickens

I usually do no pick up books in the spur of the moment from the library, because when I do, I end up picking ones that are quite bad. But we never learn from our mistakes, now do we?

I love mysteries and so I picked this book up hoping for some. The book started off with a good note- Protagonist- Carmela who runs a scrapbooking store called Memory Mine

Her friend- Ava runs a voodoo store (JuJu voodoo, I think)

Setting- New Orleans, a week before Halloween (apparently NOLA is big on Halloween, I had no idea- see I did learn something!)

With two murders in the story you would think it would keep you on your toes- but instead I found myself amidst incessant trivial portrayal of  high-society's (both women are reasonably well to-do, especially Carmela who got a  big fat alimony pay-out) celebrations culminating with the halloween parade. The descriptions of one party after another without any intelligent mystery-solving, the constant harping about Carmela's mystery-solving abilities and how she always has an eye for where trouble is was quite irritating (I mean come on- she definitely was no Miss. Marple). Not to mention the boring details of how Carmela and Ava go about getting ready for these parties!

May be it was a young adult read, but I love some of those young adult books. Anyway the good thing was there are interesting scrapbooking ideas and recipes (Carmela is supposed to be a great cook!) that I might try. May be I should give another of her mystery series a try- may be they won't be as bad!

Judgement

Read it as your own peril!

Consolations of Philosophy-

Funny and interesting read

I wonder if anyone has been wondering why this blog has been silent- well there is no good reason for why the silence, could always blame it on me being lazy. Now if you look up this book on the world wide web, negative reviews are aplenty, especially this one by Skidelsky. I sure do not understand Skidelsky's argument about using philosophy as therapy (which is exactly what De Botton does in this book), I mean why the heck can we not use philosophical theories/arguments as theories. I am sorry Mr.Skidelsky but I do not buy your arguments as to why this book was bad. I mean as a person with ample inadequacies I sure thought I could have put to use some of what these great philosophers have put forth and hence lead a fairly happy life. I also thought it was funny and the diagrams/pictures throughout the book added to the humor. It made philosophy an easy read for common people like me Mr.Skidelsky!

This book is a compilation of some of the theories from 6 great philosophers that De Botton says can be used as therapy or consolations for our failures, frustrations, inadequacies and even being unpopular. My favorites were Socrates and Epicurus.

Go ahead read the book and tell me what you think.

Junot Diaz- brilliant!

Judgement: THUMBS UP!

When I started reading this book, I was not too sure about it- but in the end all I can say is "Wow". The book is about the lives of people in Dominican Republic and how their lives change as immigrants in the US (I thought this part was quite subtle).

Oscar de Leon, (or Oscar Wao as his school mates christen him) an overweight, second generation Dominican- American fantasizes about writing science fictions (called himself the dominican JRR) and falling in love with a girl. The story is narrated in parts by Oscar's sister Lola and his friend Yunior (although the way he acts, you would at times doubt if he indeed was Oscar's friend). Trujillo's regime acts as a perfect setting as the novel- it is not just about the life to Oscar's mother Beli and her parents but also about how the family had to escape from the clutches of fuku (a curse probably).

The language was amazing overall, again one of those novels where I feel like I am part of the story.

The only problem I had was understanding the Spanish phrases- some I could sort of contextually understand but long sentences were out of my league. I wrote most of them down in the hope that I would some day translate them.

The White Tiger-a review

Highly Recommended

Arvind Adiga has me hooked. I loved this book- his first book for which he won the Man Booker Prize. His writing style is simple yet powerful. This book by virtue of being ironic, was quite humorous. I could not help but laugh out aloud (on a crowded "T", yeah and I did get "the looks") many a times. There were times throughout the book where I would give a knowing grim nod. Balram, a despicable character, did capture my heart. I usually have strong opinions about various characters in any book, especially the protagonist- but here I was not so sure- did I pity Balram, do I fathom his reasons for being the way he is and is he justified in doing what he did? The book is in the form a letter, a narration to the Chinese Premier. Balram escapes his life of nothingness and fear of landlords (with creative pet names such as mongoose and stork!) who collected hafta from the poorest of the poor, to start anew as a driver for a rich family (Amrica-returned golden boy of Stork and his wife). Now the story is all about how Balram gets there, how he learns all about "The Rooster Club" and how in all desperation he wants out of the club.

A beautifully crafted story that will melt your heart and make you laugh.

Read it to feel it!

Sultan's Seal- a review

This was our book club read for June and the exciting part was that the author Jenny White was going to be at our meeting. But unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting (I was enjoying my stay in Chennai!). Set in Stanbul on Bosphorous, close to the end of Ottoman empire, this book was quite a riveting read. It is a mystery novel with a subtle yet beautiful romance between the protaganist Kamil Pasha, the magistrate and Sybil (daughter of the British ambassador, who helps Kamil during his investigation). Kamil Pasha's investigation in to the drowning of an European governess becomes increasingly difficult as he finds out that the lady (Mary Dixon) was a governess in the Sultan's household and that that this murder might be linked to a previous similar murder. The book has its fair share of chicanery, passion and betrayal. I liked the author's style of writing a lot too.
                                Overall this book was unputdownable.

The Yacoubian Building

- by Alaa Al Aswany, a dentist by profession. Be prepared to be angered and saddened by the portrayal of the characters' struggles.
The story follows the some of the people living in "The Yacoubian Building"- the building constructed in the art-deco style still exists in Egypt but the description that the author provides in the book is something of a wonderful classical European architecture. The story follows the residents of this building:
Taha-el-Shazli whose frustration at not getting through the police academy makes him vulnerable and eventually he joins the Islamist movement

Busayna, Taha's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend, enters prostitution (well she has a day job too) after her father dies to take care of the family. She, to me seemed liked the only ray of hope in the entire book!

Hatim Rasheed, a reporter of a leading newspaper in Cairo and a homosexual. His story is quite an interesting one albeit very sad one too. I can only assume that the author has portrayed the life of homosexual people in Egypt as close to reality as possible and let me tell you- I do not like what I see.

Hagg Azzam, an old guy who enters the crooked world of politics- takes a young beautiful Souad as his second wife, of course secretly. He made her leave her son back in the village- that was the deal he made and she took it because the money and gifts were good and she could imagine a better life for both her and her son.

Zaki-el-Bey, an old flirt who had no qualms about womanizing- he would sleep with anything that looked remotely like a woman! But in the end, he does deliver another ray of hope in this forsaken land- I am sorry but I do not know what else to call it. I hope it is better now than when the book was set.


The author does a fantastic job of painting a broad picture of Egypt especailly Cairo. I was really moved by the daily struggles that people go through and somehow they did not look as horrid or sad as they should have been. They seem to carry on just fine...


Read more about this book here or here.


Enjoy!

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

Thanks to our book club, I got to read my first ever Willa Cather. In a nutshell, I liked the way she played with her characters and all of it in simple, plain English- nothing fancy. She does a brilliant job of bringing out the emotions of her characters! A very interesting and a courageous lady, Willa Cather- she dressed like a man most of the times and most of her strongest relationships seems to have been with women. Her sexual identity apparently is one of contention- remember she was born late 1800's.

Anyway about the book which was originally published in 1923- it is the story of Marian Forrester and Capt Daniel Forrester told to us through the eyes of Niel Herbert. The story is set in a small yet rich railroad community of Sweet Water in Nebraska (this is an almost fictional place- Cather draws most of her inspiration from Red Cloud, Nebraska for the description of Sweet Water in the book but looks like there is also place called Sweet Water in Nebraska). It is story of the downfall of the town- the local elites losing it to the national big guns- the advent of capitalism. It is also the story of Marian Forrester, while she does seem lost after her husband's death, is she really "a lost lady"? Neil Herbert, the narrator, grows up loving Mrs. Forrester- most of all he admires her loyalty to her husband.

" Mrs. Forrester was the only woman he knew who wore earrings of which, they hung naturally against her thin, triangular cheeks"- says Neil in the book.

But as time passes by, he realizes that Mrs.Forrester was having an affair with Frank Ellinger and that she was not what he had imagined- she was a survivor!

"It was what he most held against Mrs Forrester: that she was not willing to immolate herself, like a widow of all these great men, and die with the pioneer period to which she belonged; that she preferred life on any terms. In the end, Niel went away without bidding her goodbye. He went away with weary contempt for her in his heart"

You can begin to wonder at the end- who was lost?

Judgement: Thumbs up for this novella and double thumbs up for Cather!

PS- You can check this or this to learn more about the author. Interestingly one of Fitzgerald's character in Great Gatsby is said to resemble Cather's lost lady!

English, August

Judgement: Must read

A book by Upamanyu Chatterjee

The book is a satire about Indian civil services, especially the people who are just starting as IAS officers. While parts of this book are funny, there is a significant bit that is dark (you would enjoy this book even more if you knew about the depravity of the system). The protaganist is Agastya Sen aka Ugu aka August, the son of Governor of West Bengal (I think!) who lived mostly in cities New Delhi and Calcutta. He is being sent to Madna (a fictional town) to be trained as an Assistant collector. The book revolves around how Agastya manages to do just the same. The portrayal of small Indian villages/towns seems accurate and so is the description of a young Indian's dilemma (not just of those who work for the government). A very engaging book where I could even place people from own my life in the story and have a good laugh about it. The author has depicted Agastya's loneliness very sordidly (at least it was really upsetting to me- but I think it was intended to be satirical and funny) what with all the weed-smoking, masturbating and running by the tracks late in the nights. The other characters in the book are quite interesting- the drivers, the superintendents, the collectors and their wives, Agastya's own peers from other towns- I think without them the book would not have had a strong impact on me. The only part I did not like- when Agastya had to accompany a Mr. John Avery and his girlfriend Sita to the place where Avery's grandfather was killed by a tiger (did not see quite the connection with the entire story)

Overall I loved the book, one of those that made me laugh out loud...

When we were Romans

A book by Matthew Kneale.

Judgement: Must read

I sort of liked it, liked different aspects of the book- loved the narrator (Lawrence, a 9 year old boy) and the narration probably because I am biased (Scott of the To Kill a Mockingbird fame!), hated the spelling errors (may because as a kid I was good at spelling), loved the story and the interruptions about space and Roman emperors such as Caligula. Kudos to Mr. Kneale for doing a great job as a 9 year old narrator, I am sure it is hardly easy.

Lawrence, his sister Jemina and his mother Hannah drive to Rome in fear of the father. Lawrence tells us the story of what goes on in Rome. Only it is not just about that- the author has brought about the innocence, pettiness and frustrations of a 9- year old child. The interruptions I thought provided a firm footing in reality to Lawrence- something that was under his control. There seemed to be a transference effect when Lawrence seemed to sense what his mother felt- he seemed to take on her fears and believe them to be true. I wonder did Franseen ever tell the dad about Hannah and the kids in Rome?! And what about the sister, although a brat, she did seem to bring about quite a few turning points in the story- she does play a subtle yet an important role. I wish I could get into the author's head to understand why he chose to end it the way he did- although it did seem a bit extreme, I think it was a perfect to way to end that part of Lawrence's life story.

PS do not want to give away too much!

Velazquez, Madrid, Venice...

I normally stay away from recent publications and authors I have not read before (well, there is no particular reason, but I do prefer classics). But this book by Michael Gruber, the one I picked up at the library last week, is not all that bad. A novel of suspense, while I did enjoy the suspense part, I had no clue when the author was describing old masters such as Diego Velazquez (before this book, I did not even know he was great painter from the 1650s) or the museums and art gallery scenes in exotic places like Venice, Italy and Spain. What a shame! Towards the end I did get quite confused when Chaz Wilmot would travel back in time and see himself as Velaquez (he even paints the Rokeby Venus as Velaquez, so I am not sure one can call that forgery, or can they?). I kind of rushed through those time travelling episodes to get to the "so-whatever-happens-in-the-end" part. The ending though to me was not super-impressive, may be because I rushed through those pages! But overall it is a decent book and am sure an art lover can relate to it better than me.


PS: Click on the link below to check the book out on amazon
The Forgery of Venus: A Novel