June Reads

Hi all,

Here are the books I've read in June. I've read some truly amazing YA books, the new Judy Blume and discovered a fascinating gender studies book!

The Summer I Wasn't Me by Jessica Verdi

I read this book as part of the Queer YA Scrabble at the beginning of June. This was a stand-out book for me as it dealt sensitively with a lot of themes that are important to me and that I don't see so much in YA books: sexuality, femininity and religion. The fact that it was set in a camp to de-gayify was also fascinating. You can read my full review here on Queer YA but this is a book that more people should be reading and I will be pushing it into many hands!

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

This is another book I read as part of the Queer YA Scrabble last month and it's been on my radar forever so I was so thrilled to finally get a chance to read it. This is another stand-out book for me in terms of YA. This book is utterly unique in its setting, characters and storytelling and I am in so much awe at Alaya Dawn Johnson's talent. The fantasy isn't your typical fantasy and there is a varied cast of characters. Brownie points for non-judgmental sex and masturbation scenes. You can see my full review here on Queer YA. If you love fantasy, this is one for you to discover this summer!

Elspeth Hart and the School for Show-Offs by Sarah Forbes

I read this lovely book for younger readers in one sitting, it was at times sweet and at others quite terrifying. Elspeth is a deeply lovable heroine and we can't help but root for her as she is trying to find out what happened to her parents while going about her daily life in the Show-Off School. Some of the characters are truly sinister and will remind you of the nightmarish characters in Roald Dahl's books. A lovely start to a soon-to-be classic series. 

One by Sarah Crossan

This book utterly broke my heart and is written with such a light and powerful touch that I'm sure it will be sweeping up all the children's / YA awards this year. This verse novel about conjoined twins Grace and Tippi will take over your heart. This is a heart wrenching and heart warming story about sisters, love and identity and is such an amazing addition to the UK (and Ireland) YA scene. It will also convert you to verse novels. Perfect for fans of contemporary YA like John Green, Jenny Downham and Gayle Forman. 

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong

I read this as the author's new book, Fear of Dying, is out at the end of the year and I wanted to read her classic novel which I'd never read before. I think this is one of these books that can't be read without keeping in mind the context in which it was written. This was very much an instant classic when it came out for its portrayal of female sexuality and which resonated with a lot of women at the time. The novel is narrated by poet and writer Isadora who finds herself in Vienna for a conference. She ditches her husband of five years in search of a more fulfilling relationship and what she ends up finding is herself. Things have changed since it was written but I really liked the style and the feminist themes so I'm very much looking forward to reading the new book!

Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie

As ever, there isn't any month where I don't read an Agatha Christie! I was reticent to read Poirot at first, thinking the stereotypes on Belgians (and French people by extension) would be too annoying for me but I actually ADORE Poirot and even read his dialogue with a French accent in my head. This book is a collection of short mysteries that Poirot, Hastings and the famed little grey cells solve. I am always very proud to solve some of the mysteries myself and this was greatly enjoyable.

1492: The Year Our World Began by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

I'm doing some research on this period of history for something I'm writing and was hoping this book would be perfect but I didn't like this book as much as I'd hoped. Each chapter is about a different country for the years around 1492 and it was hard to put in perspective what happened simultaneously. It was interesting to read but I will be tracking down some other books on the subject to get more insight on some aspects of the period.

Women, History and Theory: The Essays of Joan Kelly by Joan Kelly

I loved reading this book. Joan Kelly is one of the first researchers in gender studies and she comes from a history background. It was so fascinating to read her essays - collected in this edition after her death - on looking at history from the point of view of women and how widely accepted periodisations in history can't apply to a history of women. Her essay on Renaissance and how there wasn't, strictly speaking, a Renaissance for women and this period of history was mostly about increased rights for men, was truly fascinating. This was a fantastic random find from the library and I'll be seeking more books by Joan Kelly in the future. 

In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

I adored this book! Loved it so so much! I'd only read Judy Blume's YA books and didn't know what to expect from one of her adult books but I totally loved it. The story is about three generations of family, friends and strangers in Elizabeth, New Jersey, after a series of unexpected events in the 1950s. I loved the variety of characters and what they were going through, especially Miri. I also loved the story, which was inspired by true events, and which is so topical and really makes you think. This is an amazing book and the perfect read for this summer. (Warning: not to be read on a plane or before a plane journey. You're welcome.)

~~~

What amazing books have you read last month?

In July I've already read a few Judy Blume classics in preparation for her event on 16th July in Edinburgh (SO EXCITED! Tickets here if you want to come!), as well as Naomi Novik's AMAZING new fantasy book Uprooted and Nancy Tucker's memoir about her eating disorder The Time in Between. 

A Song For Issy Bradley - Carys Bray

Summary:

This is the story of what happens when Issy Bradley dies.

It is the story of Ian - husband, father, maths teacher and Mormon bishop - and his unshakeable belief that everything will turn out all right if he can only endure to the end, like the pioneers did. It is the story of his wife Claire’s lonely wait for a sign from God and her desperate need for life to pause while she comes to terms with what's happened.

It is the story of the agony and hope of Zippy Bradley’s first love. The story of Alma Bradley’s cynicism and reluctant bravery. And it is the story of seven-year-old Jacob. His faith is bigger than a mustard seed, probably bigger than a toffee bonbon and he’s planning to use it to mend his broken family with a miracle.

Incredibly moving, unexpectedly funny and so sharply observed it will make you feel as if you could pick the woodchip off the bedroom wall, A SONG FOR ISSY BRADLEY explores the outer reaches of doubt and faith. But mostly it’s a story about a family trying to work out how to carry on when their world has fallen apart.

~~~

Becky's review:

Family, Religion, Faith, Grief, Loss and Life are all at the heart of this captivating read by Carys Bray. Each member of the Bradley family has to come to terms with the loss of their beloved Issy and the book shows how the process of grief is as unique as the person experiencing it. 

Each member of the Bradley family is vividly portrayed with individual characters taking up their own highly believable voice within the narrative. Ian, the head of the family and a Bishop in the Mormon Church, draws strength from his faith, while his wife Claire struggles to gain the same stability from her family’s religious foundations. Their children Zippy, Alma and Jacob also strive to find a way to carry on after their sister’s death in a world that suddenly feels like it has fallen apart.  

The narrative is subtle, sensitive and at times unexpectedly humorous when dealing with such complex themes. Huge questions about life and human existence are asked, and yet no answers are ever given, the reader experiences the character’s pain, agony and contemplates life’s big questions along with them, ultimately drawing their own conclusions along the way. An extremely moving and enthralling read.

Recent reads (featuring: Joel Dicker, Deborah Levy, Charles Dickens, Margaret Atwood, Jenni Fagan and Angela Jackson)

The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, Joël Dicker

August 30, 1975. The day of the disappearance. The day Somerset, New Hampshire, lost its innocence.

That summer, struggling author Harry Quebert fell in love with fifteen-year-old Nola Kellergan. Thirty-three years later, her body is dug up from his yard, along with a manuscript copy of the novel that made him a household name. Quebert is the only suspect.

Marcus Goldman - Quebert's most gifted protégé - throws off his writer's block to clear his mentor's name. Solving the case and penning a new bestseller soon merge into one. As his book begins to take on a life of its own, the nation is gripped by the mystery of 'The Girl Who Touched the Heart of America'.

But with Nola, in death as in life, nothing is ever as it seems.

This book has been a massive hit in France since September 2012 when it first came out. My mother loved this book and sent me a copy a while ago but it's only this year - after it was published in English - that I ended up picking up my French copy. I have to say, I read the book in just a few days (so brownie points for that, I guess) but I've been a bit underwhelmed by it. I was expecting great things (since it won prestigious awards in France and has been translated worldwide) but for me it was a fairly typical crime novel. There were so many twists and turns that it kept me reading but I didn't find it as exceptional as the buzz is making it out to be. The story within a story about the main character's writing life and his relationship with his publisher could have been brilliant but I felt it was rather tedious to read and rather unrealistic. (I won't mention the main character's parents or some badly drawn characters because they made me pretty cross). All in all, a good page-turner, perfect for the summer, but not particularly life-altering. 

If anyone has read it in English - do let me know how you found the translation! I found several oddities (cultural and even factual) in the book, in particular about its American setting, so would love to know if these were kept in the English language version (just because I'm nosy)!

~~~

Swimming Home, Deborah Levy

As he arrives with his family at the villa in the hills above Nice, Joe sees a body in the swimming pool. But the girl is very much alive. She is Kitty Finch: a self-proclaimed botanist with green-painted fingernails, walking naked out of the water and into the heart of their holiday. Why is she there? What does she want from them all? And why does Joe's enigmatic wife allow her to remain?

Profound and thrilling, Swimming Home reveals how the most devastating secrets are the ones we keep from ourselves.

This will undoubtedly sound odd, but I've been reading this book for the past two years. It is super short and yet it took me two years to read it. (I know, weird). I started the ebook after it was shortlisted for the Booker in 2012, and didn't quite fall in love with it so I stopped reading it. Normally, I would have forgotten all about it and moved on to other books, but I could actually remember the story vividly. So when I left the book I was reading at home and wanted to read on the bus a couple of months ago, I started reading it again. I knew exactly where I left off in the story which made me realise how memorable the writing was. I have finished it and even though I didn't entirely love the book, I am so glad I persevered. I loved the cast of characters and their personalities and since the story is set in my neck of the woods in France, it really resonated with me. 

~~~

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities portrays a world on fire, split between Paris and London during the brutal and bloody events of the French Revolution. This Penguin Classics edition of is edited with an introduction and notes by Richard Maxwell.

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...'

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

I had never read any Charles Dickens before, and I was never sure where to start. When I wanted to teach myself English by reading English language books, I printed off this "100 books you should read in your lifetime" type of list and obviously there were quite a few Dickens on it. A Tale of Two Cities is my wife's favourite and I'm happy to say I absolutely adored it and will be reading some more of his books. I didn't find the writing as hard as I thought it would be and the story in both Paris and London during the French revolution was fascinating.

~~~

Surfacing, Margaret Atwood

A young woman returns to northern Quebec to the remote island of her childhood, with her lover and two friends, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her father. Flooded with memories, she begins to realise that going home means entering not only another place but another time. As the wild island exerts its elemental hold and she is submerged in the language of the wilderness, she sees that what she is really looking for is her own past.

I read this book as part of my book group. I had never read a Margaret Atwood book before and I thought I would absolutely love it. Sadly I just couldn't get into the story. The book is said to be "one of the most important novels of the twentieth century" and I just couldn't get into the story. Nor did anyone else in the book group. Having been published in 1972, I wondered if the story may have lost some of its power and relevance over the years. Even though I didn't quite connect with this book, I really do want to read other Margaret Atwood novels (notably, The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin).

~~~

The Panopticon, Jenni Fagan

Fifteen-year old Anais Hendricks is smart, funny and fierce, but she is also a child who has been let down, or worse, by just about every adult she has ever met. Sitting in the back of a police car, she finds herself headed for the Panopticon, a home for chronic young offenders where the social workers are as suspicious as its residents. But Anais can't remember the events that have led her there, or why she has blood on her school uniform...

This is one of my favourite books of the year. I started reading it last year but got a bit intimidated by some of the writing being in Scottish and only came back to it this year with my (other) book club. Despite having put the book down after reading the beginning, I read the rest of the book quickly and fell in love with it. I absolutely loved the writing and the story and the characters. The book felt so real and raw and new. I'd like to read more books with heroines like Anais and I'll be looking out for Jenni Fagan's new book!

~~~

The Emergence of Judy Taylor, Angela Jackson

Judy Taylor married the first man who asked her. She lives in the neighbourhood where she spent her uneventful childhood. She still has the same friends she first met in primary school. But everything she once knew is about to be turned upside down.

Judy might be ready to start a new life in vibrant Edinburgh, if she's prepared to accept what it means to change. First she has to ask herself if it's ever too late to make up for lost time.

The Emergence of Judy Taylor is a story about first loves and second chances. It's about love and life and sex and starlings. It's about Judy and Oliver and Paul and Fabiana and Rob and Min and Lily and Harry and a French siren called Isabella.

This is a very short book which packs a punch. I feel it goes against the grain and tells the story of a woman's life in a way I'd like to read more of. Judy Taylor is a bit lost, she doesn't have the answers to the questions going through her mind, but she decides to take control of her life, throw financial safety out the window, and get ready to find herself. The novel is set partly in Edinburgh and you can't fail to fall in love with the city alongside Judy. A very promising debut.

Girl Meets Boy - Ali Smith

Summary from Amazon:

"Girl Meets Boy" - It's a story as old as time. But what happens when an old story meets a brand new set of circumstances? Ali Smith's re-mix of Ovid's most joyful metamorphosis is a story about the kind of fluidity that can't be bottled and sold. It is about girls and boys, girls and girls, love and transformation, a story of puns and doubles, reversals and revelations. Funny and fresh, poetic and political, "Girl Meets Boy" is a myth of metamorphosis for the modern world.

~~~

There are things in life which I can never truly explain. They can be fundamental to my essence as a person, or a mere whim, but I can never find the right words to explain exactly why that is. Being a reader is one of these things. I love reading. A large part of my time is spent reading, or talking about reading and even thinking about reading. That's just what I do. Other readers understand (we even have a secret handshake and everything), but to non-readers or occasional readers, I find it hard to put into words what reading does to me, why I do it so much and why that's what I do when I could easily spend time watching cricket or becoming an astronaut. 

After finishing Girl Meets Boy, my first thought was - "THAT'S why I read". That's it. There hasn't been a better example than the 180 pages of this book to remind me why I am a reader. The story is rich, unpredictable, deep, funny. The characters are quite simply mesmerizing, whether they're too involved in their routines or projecting ideas to the universe. And the writing is just exquisite. An elaborate dish you're both eager and almost too afraid to start eating for fear of never being able to experience that first impression again. 

I'm going borderline lyrical on this (fine, I've reached and passed that border) because I just fell in love with the book. Which is appropriate because this book is about love. And not just any kind of love. That incredible feeling you have when you fall in love for the first time. When you feel yourself falling and falling and falling into immense all-encompassing emotions you never thought your heart could hold. This book has some of the most beautifully written love scenes I have ever read.


Set in Inverness, the book is told from the point of view of two very different sisters, Anthea and Imogen. When Anthea is wild, spiritual and clever, Imogen (Midge) is serious, unobtrusive and very eager to please and succeed. Midge works at a bottled water company, Pure, and wants to evolve in her role despite being surrounded by sexist men. There is only one person she likes, Paul, but she fears he might be gay. Midge manages to get Anthea a work experience position at the same place, but Anthea doesn't really care much about her career or the company. One day, everyone in the company witnesses an eco-warrior trespassing and writing something against Pure on a wall.  Everyone is appalled except Anthea. She immediately falls for Robin, the girl who painted the wall (and who she happens to mistake for a boy at first). After falling for Robin, Anthea questions her sexuality and her identity. After this happens, Midge can't stop thinking about the consequences of her sister being gay.


The political ideas behind the characters' stories bring more depth to the book and make it very inspiring to read. I loved the idea that every little thing can have a bigger impact in the end. There are also quite a few statistics about gender inequalities which are just shocking and almost make you want to grab a paintbrush too. 


The book is an interpretation of the story of Iphis, in Ovid's Metamorphosis. The girl who was brought up as a boy to prevent her father's wrath and who appeals to the gods on the day of her wedding to be changed into a boy so that she can make her future wife happy. The story of Robin and Anthea is wonderfully told from the point of view of the two sisters. I loved reading the passages in Midge's point of view, seeing all the doubts in her head, as well as her beliefs. Her transformation was one of the most interesting things in the book. 


I'm going to stop now, because I could go on for hours. But do read this book for the sheer beauty of its writing and for the journey. 

~~~

Here are some quotes I'd like to share:


Robin telling Anthea about Iphis:
"The thing is, Iphis and Ianthe had actually, for real, very really, fallen in love.
Did their hearts hurt? I said. Did they think they were underwater all the time? Did they feel scoured by light? Did they wander about not knowing what to do with themselves?"


Anthea about Robin's smile:
"Then I saw her smile so close to my eyes that there was nothing to see but the smile, and the thought came into my head that I'd never been inside a smile before, who'd have thought being inside a smile would be so ancient and so modern both at once?"


Paul and Imogen's thinking:
"I feel met by you, he says afterwards. It's weird.
(That's exactly what it feels like. I felt met by him the first time I saw him. I felt met by him all the times we weren't even able to meet each other's eyes.)"

~~~

Also, Nymeth has posted a lovely review of this book on her blog Things Mean A Lot with some other quotes (here)




Girl Meets Boy, by Ali Smith | 2007 | Canongate | I read the ebook version

LGBT YA Week - Guest review: Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald

This review is part of the LGBT Teen Novels Week, hosted here.

For more information about the week, head over here.

Please welcome Kirsty from The Overflowing Library 

for this guest review of the Adult/YA crossover novel
Becoming Nancy!

Summary from Amazon:

For David Starr, being cast as Nancy in the upcoming school production of Oliver! is quite a shock. But David is up to the challenge. Living in a three-bedroom semi in 1970s' working-class East Dulwich, surrounded by his somewhat colourful relatives, he is bright, smart-mouthed, fanatical about pop music and ready to shine. Rehearsals begin, and he strikes up a friendship with the handsome yet enigmatic Maxie Boswell, captain of the school football team. As their alliance deepens it appears they might become more than just good friends, but that can't be right, can it?

Discovering a confidant in empathetic teacher, Hamish McClarnon, and spurred on by his no-nonsense best friend, Frances Bassey, David takes on the school bully, the National Front, and anyone else who threatens to stand in the way of true love.

Vibrant, warm, and full of life, this uproarious and touching coming-of-age novel, set against the backdrop of South-East London in the thrill of the late seventies, will transport you straight back to your first music obsession and the highs and lows of your first love.

~~~

I must admit this isn't a book I normally would pick up. I read very little adult fiction but was pitched it for review saying it was very much a cross over novel and I agreed to give it a go and I'm so glad I did.

I thought David was a brilliant character. We met him as he has just about come clear in his mind about his own sexuality and follow him as he comes out to his friends an family. I though he was really warm and geniune and loved the relationships he had with the people around him.

I loved David's teacher/gay role model Hamish. I loved that in him David saw the man he could become ... one that was both comfortable with his sexuality but also quite happy to take on anyone that dared to give him grief about it or harrass others. You can certainly see his influence as David grows as a character and becomes more comfortable in his own skin.

I loved this historical setting (yes I know people would disagree and say it isn't historical yet but I studied the time period as part of my History degree so I'm going with it). I liked seeing the attitudes and ideas that were prevalent at the time especially when you consider it is set about the same time as the brixton race riots and only a few years after homosexuality was no longer considered a crime in the UK.

What I loved about this book is that is was very much a book with a story to tell - teenage boy in the 1970s who after coming out as gay has to deal with a huge amount of grief from other parties who treat him horribly because of their bigoted and homophobic view points which it does well. However it does it in such a brilliant way that it doesn't come across as odd or patronising. 

As a word of warning to my younger followers who are considering reading this. There is a lot of swearing in this book and there are scenes with sexual content which are quite graphic so maybe not one for younger teens / tweens.

To sum in in short it's like a gay, less irritating and wittier Adrian Mole. I throughly enjoyed it as a heart-felt coming of age story with a brilliant morale and story to tell set in a modern history backdrop. Brilliant.

~~~

Thanks Kirsty for this wonderful review! 

Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flagg

Summary from Amazon:

The day IdgieThreadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. You could get eggs, grits, bacon, ham, coffee and a smile for 25 cents. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. You never saw anyone so headstrong. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.


Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a mouth-watering tale of love, laughter and mystery. It will lift your spirits and above all it'll remind you of the secret to life: friends. Best friends.

~~~

Fried Green Tomatoes at The Whistle Stop Cafe intertwines different narrators to tell the story of the little town of Whistle Stop and its infamous Cafe. Set in the South of America, the story touches various themes including racism, economic migration, homosexuality, growing up and old, feminism and disabilities. The Threadgoode family is one of the big families living in Whistle Stop and are supportive of their African-American neighbours, even when the Ku Klux Klan threatens them. Idgie (Imogen) and Ruth open the Whistle Stop Cafe and most of the towns activity revolves around it from then on.


In the 1980s, Evelyn Couch is an unfulfilled stay-at-home mom who takes to binge-eating because of how she feels. She meets Ninny, a retired old lady from Whistle Stop, who tells her the amazing story of her town. By those discussions, Evelyn gets a new insight of herself and wants to be more assertive and actually make something of her life.
Ninny tells the story of the Threadgoode and in particular of Idgie and Ruth who seemed to be accepted as a couple in the town and who raised Ruth's son together. As a background story, Ninny talks about Ruth's ex husband who suddenly disappeared and whose alleged murder should have been committed by Idgie. This gives a bit of a suspense quality to the book because you only find out at the end what really happened!
The book also features some funny snippets of the Whistle Stop gazette from the opening of the cafe to its closure. These are awfully entertaining, I was laughing out loud more than once while reading them!


I found that the various narrators worked well and gave another dimension to the story. I also liked that a large part of the story is told by people who witnessed what was happening and Ninny, in particular, loved Ruth and Idgie so much that she might be fudging a bit the details. The narrators are not exactly reliable and some characters or events are clouded with mystery so it gives an interesting edge to the story.


You might also want to have some snacks next to you while you read because food is a large part of the story and the Whistle Stop menu is quite simply mouth-watering (well, except for one exception, but you will have to read the book to know why!). There are also all the recipes at the end of the book in case you just give up on snacks and want to try them yourself!


The story in general is very rich and I think it's the type of book where everyone gets something different out of it. I personally picked up more on the women issues and being able to compare Evelyn's life with Idgie's or Ruth's but you could see the book as one centered on the question of race, or economic changes during the XXth century. I found that the various dimensions gave a real originality to the story.


The style differs because of the various narratives, but Ninny's voice is pitch perfect. After a few lines, I could hear a Southern accent reading the lines in my head and I could feel the heat and the atmosphere. You will definitely get your share of travel and discovery, reading this.


I've read the book for my Queer Book Group and the discussion was quite lively. Some people didn't like the different narrators and how you had to keep on reading the book to actually find out everything about Ruth and Idgie. The book is set at the beginning of the century all though the XXth century and some argued that Ruth and Idgie's relationship was never officially acknowledge anywhere in the book (so they *could* potentially just be friends) whereas the book was published in 1987. That issue was probably the biggest theme discussed by everyone in the group (were they together? Was the omission to fit in with the historical period? Was it to be more for commercial reasons?...). It's quite interesting that whenever you discuss a book, it's always the negative which comes out more.


I really loved it and even if when I discussed it with the book group I realised the story had some flaws, I thought it was a great book and I'd definitely recommend it!




Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg | 1987 | Vintage | Bought at Gay's The Word

In The Sea There Are Crocodiles - Fabio Geda

Hi everyone!

My translated fiction reading has been a bit slow this summer but it is coming back in force with this review of the Italian best-seller In The Sea there Are Crocodiles and my future Japanese YA novels week (21-27 November!) which will be co-hosted by the lovely Nina and Katy at Death Books and Tea!

Summary from Amazon:

One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah’s mother tells him three things: don’t use drugs, don’t use weapons, don’t steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn’t there. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself.

In a book that takes a true story and shapes it into a beautiful piece of fiction, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah’s remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum aged fifteen. His ordeal took him through Iran, Turkey and Greece, working on building sites in order to pay people-traffickers, and enduring the physical misery of dangerous border crossings squeezed into the false bottoms of lorries or trekking across inhospitable mountains. A series of almost implausible strokes of fortune enabled him to get to Turin, find help from an Italian family and meet Fabio Geda, with whom he became friends.

The result of their friendship is this unique book in which Enaiatollah’s engaging, moving voice is brilliantly captured by Geda’s subtly simple storytelling. In Geda’s hands, Enaiatollah’s journey becomes a universal story of stoicism in the face of fear, and the search for a place where life is liveable.

~~~

You are not going to be surprised if I say that I adored this book, right?

I know, I know what you're going to say, I *always* love the translated books I review in my Lost in Translation feature, and I keep telling you how much you *need* to read them, so much that I'm turning into the boy who cried wolf and you don't believe me anymore.

But guess what? This one, you really do need to read it! No really!

This story is a real eye opener. Not only do you see life through the eyes of someone from a foreign culture and country, but you also see how things are like in countries who do not have the chance to be democraties and you see the theme of immigration through the point of view of the immigrant. Enaiatollah is sent out of Afghanistan by his mother who wishes him to survive and not be a casualty of the Talibans which had taken over the country. His travels bring him to Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece and Italy. He is just a child yet he manages to get through countries and survive very hard conditions. 

What is fascinating to see are the similarities between our culture (Western European that is) and Enaiatollah's, and I think that is why it is important to read this book. Enaiatollah is a regular little boy, he lives with his family, he plays ball with the other children in the village and he really likes to go to school (though he'd rather play outside!). People in his village are not Talibans and are on the contrary bullied by them. From his very early years, Enaiatollah witnesses his teacher getting killed. 

There are some real heart-breaking moments in the book and Enaiatollah meets many people, some of which happen to help him, others who will hurt him. Any random act of kindness is remembered and cherished by Enaiatollah but he doesn't blame the ones who hurt him. I found him to be full of love, for the people around him that he comes across, but also for the countries and the different cultures he encounters. Enaiatollah proves to have a real hunger to learn and to live.

The book is a conversation between the writer, Fabio Geda, and Enaiatollah Akbari who is now an adult and sometimes, Fabio or Enaiatollah come out of the story to clarify one point or discuss bigger themes and I found it to be really interesting because everything is put in perspective and the book becomes more than just a story.

What I loved about this book is that Enaiatollah, no matter how horrible and dangerous the things he goes through are, doesn't lose faith. He doesn't even think he is to be pitied. I mean he is just a kid when he leaves his country and moves into territories which have some of the harshest life conditions on this planet and yet he doesn't give up. This is an incredibly uplifting story, it makes me believe that anything in life is possible and anything can be achieved by pretty much anyone. 

This book is quite simply breathtaking and is a wonderful way to get to see the world through the eyes of an Afghan child in his journey to find a new place to call home.


Info: It is fine for both boys and girls. There are some violent bits in it so younger children might find this a bit hard to read if not reading with an adult who can explain some things (which would be a great way to approach the book).

Thanks to RHCB for the proof copy!

In The Sea There Are Crocodiles, by Fabio Geda | 2011 | RHCB | Proof copy from publisher

The Hours - Michael Cunningham | Guest review by Andrew for Lesbian Teen Novels Week

This is the last review for the Lesbian Teen Novels Week hosted here.

If you would like more information about the week,

head over here.

When I asked around if people wanted to write guest reviews for the week,

Andrew from The Pewter Wolf volunteered with this book.

It isn't per se a young adult novel, but I can remember devouring Virginia Woolf's books and loving the film version of The Hours when I was in high school so I thought it was a perfect choice to finish this week. One book which is one of the many possibilities you can read to develop your literary tastes as well as make you think. It seems fitting that teenagers read about the importance of one moment's choice.

~~~

When Portrait of the Woman asked on Twitter if anyone would like to take part in Lesbian Teen Novel Week, I was quite excited and thought it would be cool and interesting idea to take part in. Now, after a few hours of trying to think of a novel that uses lesbian characters as lead characters (It was too soon to reread Huntress by Malinda Lo [which, I thought, was a wonderful fantasy story with a lovely romance] and I didn't have a copy of The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson [which I heard is a very good read!]), I decided to reread my copy of The Hours by Michael Cunningham (which doesn’t technically come under “Lesbian Teen Novel” but I asked if this was okay to read).

The Hours follows a day in the lives of three women in three different time zones, each unrelated to the other yet whose lives are intertwined by one event: a book. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. We follow the day in the life of the author, the reader and the character. Virginia Woolf is starting to write Mrs Dalloway in the early 20th century, Laura Brown is reading Mrs Dalloway in 1960s America and Clarissa Vaughan (who is nicknamed Mrs Dalloway) is going to throw a party that evening in late 1990s New York City.

I first read this just before the film based on this book came out in 2003 and, at the time, I really enjoyed this book. It was so different to what I have read before and the ideas of writing an ordinary day in the lives of three seemingly ordinary women was interesting. No wonder it won awards like the Pulitzer Prize (which at the time - and now, actually - I still don’t truly understand).

But now, rereading and rewatching the movie in 2011, I am beginning to doubt my memory of the book as things are creeping up that I had not noticed before.

I understand what the book is trying to do. It’s trying to write what can happen within a moment and how important a day can be to a person who makes decisions that could and would change your life forever. Basically, Michael Cunningham is doing the same thing Virginia Woolf did within Mrs Dalloway.

But it seems to me, the second time I read this, that it fell a tad flat. There are times when it feels like the book is repeating itself. There was a chapter where we follow Virginia Woolf where she goes into her bathroom and washes her face. Within the one paragraph, we are told three times that she washes her face and doesn’t look in the mirror.

However, the book becomes interesting the further you read. The last five or six chapters are my fave as it all comes to a head as is the prologue which has no real impact to the story but if you know the life story of Virginia Woolf, it makes sense and rings true.

Now, let’s touch on the subject of love. With the story where we follow Virginia Woolf and Laura Brown, both are married and both kiss a woman. But it’s Clarissa’s story that tackles her being a lesbian. She is in a relationship with her partner, Sally, for over several years and she has a straight daughter. Most of her friends that we meet are gay or bisexual and nothing about this felt sensation. It felt normal. Clarissa and Sally have been a couple for years and they acted like a couple for years. Under the new laws that has happened in the state of New York, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were a married couple. It felt like I was reading a typical couple. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Now, the film. I do like the film. I think I prefer the film to the book, but of course, things have changed from the book version of the Hours to the film version of The Hours. For example, Laura Brown goes to a hotel. In the book, she goes there to escape the “failure” of the birthday cake she has made and to have think to herself. It is only there where she realises how easy it would be to die. How easily it would be to kill herself. In the film, however, she goes to the hotel with the idea of killing herself in mind. It’s only after a nightmare of drowning that she changes her mind.

But, out of the two, I would say watch the film. Meryl Streep can’t seem to do anything wrong!

~~~

Thank you Andrew for this lovely review!

I will go and grab a copy at the library, I love the idea of it being a re-creation of Mrs Dalloway!

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Summary from Amazon:

Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

~~~

Never Let Me Go is one of those books you really shouldn't know anything about when you start reading. Of course, no one should tell you *the* spoiler, but you also shouldn't hear much about the story: when talking to other people about this book, I realised that we had reacted very differently to the various characters and situations and I wonder if knowing someone's opinion of the book might ruin the experience for you, so I will keep this review to a bare minimum!

Kathy narrates the story of when she was a young student at Hailsham in the 1970s England. She explains her life there from her very early years, how the school was functioning and her friendships there, with Tommy and Ruth in particular. From an early point on, you realise there is something peculiar going on at Hailsham, but you can't exactly put your finger on what.

Kathy is kind hearted and becomes friend with bullied Tommy who has some anger issues and is constantly teased by his school mates. Kathy is also friend with Ruth, whom Kathy learns is often lying and manipulating people. Kathy makes it clear to Ruth that she doesn't always fall in her tricks but that she will remain her friend. Kathy and Ruth's relationship and how it evolves is cleverly woven and definitely has an influence on both girls' personalities.

There is something quite detached and haunting about Kathy's way of telling her story. Her voice is very clear and we read her as if she was telling her true life story herself. There are no embellishments or mature reasoning in how she recounts her life and her relationships with both Ruth and Tommy and from how she presents things, you realise things Kathy herself has no idea about yet.
I need to read more books by Kazuo Ishiguro to see exactly how much of the story-telling is his and how much is Kathy's, but I really loved the contrast between it being a dystopian story and how Kathy's voice is so matter-of-factly and at times emotionally detached.
There are some truly heart-breaking moments in the book and they really are fascinatingly told by Kathy's voice. I really loved hearing this story from her.

I don't want to say more for fear of giving away the plot. The book is a dystopian novel set in the past, and I found this aspect incredibly fascinating. The idea was to see how the world would have been had the scientific energy been diverted towards something other than nuclear energy. I found the atmosphere of the story and the context very believable and I thought Ishiguro put himself brilliantly in the head of his characters. I really want to read more of him, especially his novels containing references to his Japanese heritage.

I went to a screening of the film (which is really wonderful with a fantasting casting and acting) with a Q&A session with Kazuo Ishiguro so I will discuss the more spoilery themes then!

I think that anyone interested in Dystopia, novels about science, great writing and fantastic characters would love reading this book.


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro | Faber and Faber | Read on my kindle!

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Sarra Manning

Summary from Amazon:

Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don’t get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William’s been in LA for three years, and Neve’s been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he’ll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her.

So she’s not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she’d better get some, well, experience.

What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia’s colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he’s such a man-slut, and so not Neve’s type, she certainly won’t fall for him. Because William is the man for her… right?

Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve’s lost her heart – but to who?

~~~~

I read this book a little while ago and Neve's story is still present in my head. Her fight against her weight, but especially against herself, hasn't left me since.

When I think about Chick Lit as a genre, I usually picture a couple of blonde fashionistas going shopping and searching for love in a big city (like probably most of the people who don't actually read Chick Lit). So I tend to dismiss those books very easily - you know, with all those pirates, dragons and werewolves books I haven't read why on earth would I read a Chick Lit book?

Well maybe because these books talk about me. Not me me. But me as a person, a woman living in this century (where the existence of dragons and werewolves still hasn't been proven yet). One of the best aspects of the book is how contemporary it feels. Sarra Manning gave Neve's story a context that many people can relate to with themes such as issues to find a decent job, to make friends at work, to get over what happened during your teenage years etc. The atmosphere feels very real and shows how much some people struggle nowadays to find happiness or fulfilment.

Neve is a very realistic and striking character. She is very bright and her job might not be thrilling per se but she enjoys it (to a certain extent) and has some hopes of one day publishing a book. She has been in love with William since University and despite his move to LA. Neve had a little problem with food during her teenage years and became overweight. When William left for America, she set herself the goal of losing all her weight and becoming "perfect" so that William, upon his return, would fall in love with her. 

A couple of years later and many pounds less, Neve thinks she is prepared for William's return but her sister Celia reminds her of the tiny issue of Neve's complete inexperience in men. As in complete inexperience. Enters Celia's mad plan to take Neve to her work (fashion magazine!) party and introduce her to some of her colleagues. Little does she know that womaniser Max will be the one chosen by Neve.

The contrast between bookish Neve and ladies' man celebrity journalist Max is striking, but it is what makes their interactions so fascinating. They are worlds' apart in appearance but find some deep-rooted connections. I just love what happened between them as well as being able to see behind the scenes of fashion magazines and the world of celebrities. Sarra Manning - having been a journalist for years - depicts very well this world.

The characterisation in the story is just brilliant. I tweeted Sarra Manning about the realism of Neve's personality, and she told me that she drew a lot of her own experience for this book, qualifying it as her most "me" book. You can read her incredible piece for The Telegraph here where she talks about her transformation.

But describing You Don't Have To Say You Love Me as a book about weight and diet would be too reductive. The book is a coming-of-age story of someone who has always lived in the shadows and about her journey to learn how to love herself.

The explicit sex scenes made me blush down to my toes - note to self: do not read explicit sex scenes in the tube where people read over your shoulder.
I loved how all the characters had very distinctive personalities and how they related to Neve: her father, her sister, her brother's wife (and ex-bully when she was at school), her gym trainer and her friends at work. I liked the story of her attempting to write a book on Lucy Keener and how it interestingly completed the main plot.

The writing is simply gorgeous. Sarra Manning has amazing story-telling skills and I literally couldn't put the book down.
 I really loved this book, I found that the characters and the contemporary-feel of the story was fascinating. It is a feel good book in the most realistic way possible (no irrational makeovers or unbelievable male love interests). If you are a fan of Chick Lit, you will love this book, but you might also like it if you are not a fan of the genre!

 

There are two covers of this book. When I first saw the Lips one I really fell for it, the colour is just so striking and it symbolises what the book is about. But the Petals cover definitely has something. It might be less striking but I really like how the petals circle the page. What do you think? Which one would you rather have on your bookshelf?

Many thanks to Transworld for the book!