On my bookshelf

Sixpence House: Lost In A Town Of Books :: Paul Collins

I scoured the net for weeks looking for this book. There were no more copies left on Amazon and I, living in Singapore, could not buy them from the Marketplace. Finally found it and a first edition hardbound copy too. Woohoo!

Then it was several months later, after I finished some books ahead in the queue, when I finally picked it up. It goes something like this: Man, wife and baby son move from San Francisco to Hay-On-Wye in Wales, UK, looking for a better life. It is a small village of 1500 people and 40 second-hand bookstores. Man finds a part-time job in a bookshop while working on book in the midst of publication. They meet interesting village people while looking for the perfect home. But after months of being unable to find one that doesn't need costly renovations, they realize that maybe they are not ready for the move after all.

I was and still am enthralled about a village bulging with books. I've now got a standing invitation to visit a good friend who lives "just down the road", to see and smell it for myself. Musty old books have the third best smell in the world, right after pineapple tarts at Christmas and the smell of new books, freshly bought. I looked forward to reading of Collins' efforts to assimilate to village life, and his adventures there but was left bereft.

The story of someone trying to adapt to life in a new country, with all the cultural and social missteps, is always quite entertaining. You know it works when you feel you're right at their elbow through their adventures. However I found that lacking here as well as any insight, the "meat" if you will, of really living in a bibliophile's idea of heaven.

Yes, there are LOTS of anecdotes about books and book-making and book buying and book cataloging and book dumping...quite enough and then some for the rabid bibliophile. It made me want to move there. BUT that was because of the village itself, not the author who after all the fuss, had another life-changing decision to make.

A good read but not worth the weeks I spent online to buy it. By the way, I got my edition from Alibris.com.

Now reading: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007, and with a few months to live, gave his 'last lecture' at Carnegie Mellon. It was a lecture on "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". This is his autobiography.

On my bookshelf

The City of Dreaming Books :: Walter Moers

A young septuagenarian dinosaur Optimus Yarnspinner is on a quest to uncover the author of a manuscript left by his authorial godfather. And it's to Bookholm he must go.

Bookholm, a city I'd call a bibliophile heaven. A city obsessed with books and everything about them. Only many of these books are not just for reading. Some are truly hazardous while others are just downright deadly. Some are even alive! All to be found in this city of strange inhabitants like Sharkgrubs and Murchs who live above enormous catacombs, filled with even more books of inestimable worth, and even stranger creatures. Booklings, animatomes, Harpyrs, and flora and fauna of the truly bizarre kind inhabit the caverns far below. But the strangest and most fearsome of them all is the dreaded Shadow King.

Optimus falls into the clutches of an evil book dealer, is hypnotized, poisoned and abandoned in the catacombs. What happens next is a rollicking adventure unlike anything I've ever read in a long, long time. Definitely not a children's book; too many bloody scenes and vicious books that could scare them out of picking up a book ever again! I raced through it in 5 days and enjoyed every word of it.

Highly recommended and a definite re-read.

On my bookshelf

Mirror Mirror :: Gregory Maguire

I've always loved fairy tales. Not the vanilla tales from childhood but tales written for a more adult audience, sometimes twisted and dark with a dash of the macabre. Discovering Gregory Maguire in 2007 at a B&N in Cordova, TN (only realizing later that HE wrote Wicked), made me want to buy every book in his oeuvre. Glad I didn't.

The tale is a retelling of Snow White, only Maguire sets his story in Italy at the time of the Borgias. Nearly all the elements of the original are here: magic mirror, dwarves, wicked stepmother, poison apple, a beautiful girl. And a father who has disappeared on a quest for a biblical treasure (no, not the ark or the grail). There are also the court intrigues and political machinations of princes and popes jockeying for power and wealth. All the right elements to make a great story.

I finished Mirror, Mirror, and felt... Not that uplifted feeling I get at the end of a really good book. Neither a sense of loss cause I've finished it. I just felt... flat.

While I loved the story, what I didn't like was its pacing and protracted scenes. I found myself rushing through the last 50 or so pages WANTING to finish it so I could start something else. Read this only if you're a Gregory Maguire fan.

On my bookshelf

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic In Disguise :: Ruth Reichl

"New York is the centre of the American restaurant world." And a job at the New York Times as its new restaurant critic could potentially make nervous wrecks of anyone, never mind the new upstart from California, home of veggie burgers and tofu salads. But New York throws out the welcome mat. Even before Ruth Reichl arrives, there are "wanted" posters of her in nearly every restaurant in the city, as well as substantial "bounties" for spotting her. So much for anonymity! Now how is "the most important restaurant critic in the world" to get her job done?

With the help of wigs, makeup and vintage clothes, Reichl morphs into Molly, Miriam, Chloe, Brenda, Betty and Emily, fooling every sharp-eyed waiter and restaurateur in the city. Her personas are hilariously funny even as her reviews are mouth-wateringly delicious. Unlike the previous critic Bryan Miller with his penchant for French, Italian and Continental establishments, Reichl is an equal opportunity critic - dining and reviewing even Asian, Indian and Latino restaurants, leading her readers into hitherto unknown territory of the city's culinary map.

I admit to being a fan after reading her earlier novel Comfort Me With Apples. And I thoroughly enjoyed this book which not only has some of her best restaurant reviews and recipes from her own kitchen but also anecdotes of her life in New York and her time at the paper. Highly recommended indeed.

Now reading: Walter Moer's City of Dreaming Books. I'll be posting another review in a couple of days, of Gregory Maguire's Mirror Mirror. Two books read in January!

On my bookshelf

I, Lucifer :: Glen Duncan

I've always wondered... The Christian God is all about forgiveness, right? So could he ever forgive Lucifer and welcome him back into Heaven? But more importantly, would Lucifer miss home and repent? And what would it take for this to happen?

Well, Lucifer has been missed and is offered a chance at redemption before all hell breaks loose. He's given a trial run, one month, in the body of a suicide victim to decide if he wants to go all the way. Of course, the little devil has his own ideas of what that life should be and he proceeds to live it, on his terms. What happens next is a wicked romp through the streets of London as Lucifer indulges in the earthly pleasures of sex, drugs and expensive suits while offering us insightful glimpses of the Fall, temptation of Eve, the Last Supper and life in Hell, not to mention the rest of the angelic host. But goodness! He is a whiner who behaves like the bad boy in a preppy do-good family.

Whatever you do, don't read ahead, especially the end. And if you can put up with Glen Duncan's verbal gymnastics and biting wit, you'll be rewarded with a tongue-in-cheek tale of a heavenly exercise gone awry.

By the way, there's a movie based on the book due out soon. Guess who's in the title role?

Now reading: Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire - an adult version of Snow White set in the time of the Borgias in Italy.

On my bookshelf

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World :: Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr won the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. It came with a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Lucky chap. He learned of it when he and his wife returned from the hospital with new-born twin. Doubly lucky.

So off they went to the Eternal City where for one magical year, they embraced life in Italy and their new roles as parents. The book is both an insight into the sleepless lives of young parents, as well as a guide to the butchers, bakers, grocers and their neighbourhood on the Janiculum.
We are taken on tours of the Vatican (now I know to get into the Sistine Chapel queue very early then run like a mad thing to lie under the famous ceiling and enjoy it in solitude for nearly 15 minutes), meet Romans (who all love babies), discover parts of the city that are not in tourist brochures and attend the vigil of a dying pope. There are funny anecdotes of his family and musings on the writer's life with healthy observations from Pliny and Dante.

An easy book to read and and get lost in. And wish, wish, WISH you were there too.

Now reading: I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. A thoroughly wicked look at the possible salvation of the devil.

On my bookshelf

The Secret Of Lost Things :: Sheridan Hay

A coming of age tale of a young 18 year-old girl who travels from Tasmania to New York City after her mother's death. There she finds work in the Arcade, a huge second-hand book-store filled with odd characters like Pearl a large, black soon-to-be all woman with operatic dreams and Oscar who is incapable of loving anyone. Along the way, she's besotted with a totally undeserving fuckwit (thanks you Bridget Jones!) who uses her to aid his search for a lost Herman Melville manuscript, and has her first sexual encounter with another who's looking for the same.

I liked Rosemary although her naivete and country-mouse wonder at life and love made me want to shake her after a bit. I enjoyed Sheridan Hay's prose and her ability to create idiosyncratic characters. While the Melville manuscript was a secondary plot, it was an clever way to put Rosemary into situations that tested her, and allowed her to grow.

A good effort but I wish it had a slightly faster pacing. Recommended for serious consideration to any TBR pile.

Now reading: Not sure what's next. Maureen Corrigan's book kinda disappointed me. I need a thriller to yank me from the depths of book purgatory. Suggestions welcome!

On my bookshelf

The Shadow of the Wind :: Carlos Luiz Zafon

Nearly 500 pages of plots within plots within plots; of a parallel coming-of-age tale of two young men and the women they love, a labyrinth, of a sadistic police officer driven by psychopathic lust to hurt and kill, of books that are hunted down and destroyed. Murder, love and mystery rule while quiet moments of regret, loss and longing give pause and a lump in the throat.

This is a delicious Gothic novel in the same vein as Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. It's one of those books that you'd want to savour every page, to prolong its inevitable conclusion yet at the same time, want to rush through to find out what happens next! There are nail-biting scenes which will have you reading well past bedtime on a work night before you get to a spot where you can close the book, however reluctantly. But whatever you do, don't read ahead.
I'll be looking for more of Zafon's novels to add to my library. Highly recommended!

Now reading: Maureen Corrigan's Leave Me Along, I'm Reading, and Sheridan Hay's The Secret of Lost Things.

On my bookshelf

An Alphabetical Life :: Wendy Werris

This is an ode to the long-ignored, underappreciated bookseller. A profession Wendy Werris stumbled into when she was hired at the legendary Pickwick Bookstore in LA on September 2, 1970. It traces her journey from a lowly sales person to publishers' sales rep with snippets of her family along the way.

Wendy was selling books in an era when indie bookstores still dotted the US landscape, providing personal service and in-depth knowledge of their products, before they were engulfed by the mega stores we see today. These small bookstores had a personality and larger-than-life, generous book buyers who became her friends. Many remained close even as their bookstores folded or were bought over by the corporate giants.

There's a hilarious moment at a Microsoft Press sales conference. Mac-user Wendy, determined to show up a presenter, inserted foot-in-mouth by asking, "So tell me - will Microsoft be launching a Macintosh version of this Windows software upgrade?"

A thoroughly enjoyable book that well deserves its place on the bookshelf of all bibliophiles.

Now reading: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

On my bookshelf

Special Topics In Calamity Physics :: Marisha Pessl

I was NOT going to let this book get the better of me. I hung on for dear life, carting this heavyweight around in my bags for nearly 2 months. I endured some rather rotten characters in the first 434 pages to only have those characters nearly disappear in the remaining pages. So much for getting attached to some people I had grown to really dislike.

I kept asking myself as I turned each page, "What's the point in all this?" And after just finishing the book a scant 10 minutes ago, I have to say, "Nothing." Except for a couple of incidents that happen in the first two-thirds that shed some light on the last few chapters, everything is expendable. Pessl's freshman effort could use with some drastic editing, if not for the book's benefit, than at least for the sake of her readers. The last 200 pages zipped along with a couple of twists I rather enjoyed though you can see them coming as the plot slowly unravels. But goodness! Getting to that point where you can actually start enjoying it, is SO tedious.

Go to Amazon to read a synopsis, I'm too fed-up with this book to write more than this: Girl and father move to a new town, to a new school, girl makes unlikely new friends, girl finds body of her teacher, loses friends, then uncovers an underground, near-legendary revolutionary group with links close to home.

Recommended only if you're going to be marooned on a desert island.

Now gratefully reading: An Alphabetical Life by Wendy Werris.

On my bookshelf

Lost & Found :: Jacqueline Sheehan

This was one unexpected book buy. I've never been a big fan of modern 'relationship' books; of people working through personal problems, relationships, loss and love even if there is a happy ending. If there is a twist like a murder or involves some of my favourite elements like animals and books, I'll consider but I usually give such books a miss - well, mostly. Until the cover jumps out at me, which this one did. Who can resist that adorable doggy face?

A rather straight-forward story: woman loses husband, flees to an island, rescues injured dog which she nurses back to health, tries to solve the mystery of its injury and ownership, meets other island residents and an archery instructor who sends her pulse racing. I particularly enjoyed the chapters with the doggy's point of view. Overall, a rather heartwarming, poignant tale, easily read over a long weekend.

Currently reading: Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics, a Borders' book bought with a 40% +10% discount.

On my bookshelf

The Faith Club :: Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, Priscilla Warner

Don't read this book for in-depth knowledge of Christianity, Judaism or Islam. And you won't find spiritual enlightment between its pages either. But what you will find is a primer, a beginner's guide to understanding that these 3 faiths are not very much different from each other after all. Regardless of our own misconceptions and stereotypes, these faiths are joined by a common thread - love for God, and for each other. Everything else is (mis)interpreted through the lens of culture, society and one's personal reading of the Tanakh, Quran or Bible.

Suzanne, Ranya and Priscilla share their journey with all the painful, uncomfortable and sensitive parts laid bare for frank and open discussion. I was particularly interested in how Ranya introduced moderate Islam to her Jewish and Christian friends, and slowly changed their long standing misperceptions. If you're keen to find out more of each religion, The Faith Club is a good start. With tips at the end for starting your own faith club.

Currently reading: Lost & Found by Jacqueline Sheehan during my daily commute, and Princess Bride is on my bedside table.

On my bookshelf

Time Was Soft There :: Jeremy Mercer

Part memoir, part travel book, part character essay. Jeremy Mercer chronicles his months as a poor, unemployed bum living in Shakespeare & Co. in Paris under the charitable auspices of its mercurial owner George Whitman (no, not the grandson of Walt Whitman, thank you!) who befriends him. There Mercer meets a ragtag bunch of writers, some odd part-time staff and curious visitors who over time, become part of the story of that legendary bookshop. Things we take for granted are all part of Mercer's daily adventures as he scrounges for cheap food, clothes and a hot shower with hilarious results. He also shares his growing friendship with George, a lifelong Communist and Sunday pancake chef.

I may not be headed to Paris anytime soon, but I'm glad I read what is probably be the 'last firsthand account' of Shakespeare & Co. Funny and quitely moving, this is a great read and yes! a worthy addition to any library.

Now reading: Still on The Princess Bride (bedtime), The Faith Club (daily commute) and the plodding Jane Austen Bookclub. I don't dare sniff the air in Borders or Kinokuniya lest I succumb to temptation. But oh! there are so many books I want!! Be strong, Kisane... Haha!

On my bookshelf

A House in Corfu: A Family's Sojourn in Greece
:: Emma Tennant

"Please don't waste your time." That's what one reviewer wrote of this book, and I should have listened.

I love travel books especially books that guide you through life in the Mediterranean - Greece, Italy, south of France. The last book I read on Greece was also my first introduction to the delights of armchair travels; the incomparable My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. At age 13, I wanted to move there immediately, never mind that both my parents were in the civil service in Singapore. Durrell's books became my yardstick for travel books ever since. And Tennant's, sorry to say, disappointed. It was boring, superficial and totally lacking in any insight into Corfoit customs, the people and island life. Not surprisingly as Tennant spent only a couple of months a year on that island while she made a life for herself and young family in London. She wrote as a tourist, not a Corfoit islander. However had she ghost-written a book with her parents who had moved to Rovinia to retire, I think it would have been a more interesting read. As it is, this paperback earns a "Read only if there's nothing left on your bookshelf" award.

The Uncommon Reader :: Alan Bennett

Whatever you do, don't skip to the end, leave the room if a smart alek friend starts raving about this book and avoid any reviews that don't come with a spoiler warning (there are none here so don't worry!). Yes, you definitely don't want to have one of the best endings in bookdom which happens on the VERY last page of this delightful novella, spoilt for you.

The Queen discovers reading, and pursues this new passion with much gusto to the horror of her private secretary, prime minister and others. She reads everywhere and to the point where it interferes with her royal duties. Her reading choices are remarkable, guided in part by a kitchen helper who first introduces gay-themed books for Her Majesty's reading pleasure. But before long, she is onto to other authors, one book leading to the next. I was most indignant when her royal staff ganged up to stifle this new hobby, but her royal resourcefulness discovers that reading leads to an even more interesting hobby: writing. I closed it with a satisfying chuckle, wondering if someone would pass this gem to the Queen. It definitely earns the "You have no idea how much fun this is" award.

I bought iWoz by Gina Smith but put it aside after the first 2 chapters. It is the biography of Steve Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple and has got to be one of the most irritating reads ever!! The story of Apple's founding and growth is the stuff of legend but only if you can get past Steve's bragging and constant 'look at how amazing I am' pronouncements. It wore thin after a while. I kept putting it down after a couple of pages; had to drink some water to stop the gagging reflex! I just hope Steve Jobs gets around to writing one himself or at least authorises someone to write for him some day.

Now reading: The Princess Bride (30th Anniversary Edition), Time Was Soft There AND The Faith Club.

On my bookshelf

The Ladies of Grace Adieu & Other Stories :: Susanna Clarke
My first introduction to Susanna Clark and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed her book. Some clever wit likened the prose to 'Jane Austen meets the Grimm brothers' and I have to agree.

This is a collection of eight good old-fashioned English fairy tales, written in a style and language that many Austen fans would recognise. Lovers of faerie and fantasy would appreciate the almost historical manner of their telling. Clark gives a new twist to the Rumpelstiltskin tale and Shakespeare's Queen Mab. She even sets one in a Neil Gaiman universe.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows; like Grimm's tales, there's a darker undercurrent afoot. Fairies are not the 'little people', or 'fair folk' we remember from childhood tales. They are lustful, mean-spirited and cunning. Their interactions with humans nearly always spell disaster for ordinary folk. But this book is far from that. It's a quick easy read, done in one long afternoon.

Now reading: The Faith Club - A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew by Idliby, Oliver and Warner. I've already gotten to some difficult parts involving stereotyping and prejudice, some of which I recognise all to well. But it's proving to be a very eye-opening read.

On my bookshelf

The Mephisto Club :: Tess Gerritsen
I haven't read a really good thriller in a long while. Except for a couple of bad encounters that failed to live up to expectations. But Tess Gerritsen was heavily recommended in book blogs and has had rave reviews on Amazon. As I had a coupon for 30% off plus a further 10% with a Borders card, how can I not give her a try?

Well, I did just that and I found: A fast-paced murder/forensic mystery with generous helpings of early Christian and Hebrew myth; of good versus evil and of demons alive among men. Whew! Gerritsen did her research well and it shows in this thrill-a-minute book. Got 48 hours to spare? Read and enjoy. Just don't expect too much from her characters - the story is king here.

I was lead to The Mephisto Club by the recommendations of others. But now, I'll gladly take up her other books on my own.

Now reading: The Ladies of Grace Adieu & Other Stories by Susanna Clarke. Am in the mood for some magic this week. And STILL plugging away at The Jane Austen Book Club (somewhat tedious!) and A House in Corfu (almost done).

On my bookshelf

Literacy and Longing in L.A. :: Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack
When the going gets tough, grab a stack of books, several bottles of good wine, turn off all phones and escape. Read for like 2 or 3 days straight. Don't eat or shower.

That's how book junkie Dora handles the stresses of her new singlehood after seperating from her movie mogul husband, Palmer who still has a soft spot for her. Her favourite getaway is a bookstore where she meets Fred, an irresistible book nut. Can anyone spell 'rebound'?

There's a cast of quirky characters too; from Darlene, an off-the-wall teamster, Dora's ex-alcoholic mother, and Bea, a former society hair brusher, not to mention Dora's younger sister Ginny, who while struggling with a new baby, makes time and effort to help her sister cope with her book binges, new boyfriend and getting a job. Ginny reminds me of my sister D, who has been supportive of all my efforts with love and encouragement even while half a world away.

Yes, I enjoyed this book and took my time to finish it but I particularly enjoyed the last 9 pages which lists all the books and authors mentioned in this book - and there's a lot! From the classics to contemporary fiction to trashy romance novels which Dora discovers for the first time in a rather funny scene. I don't think her book binges are particularly too healthy although any book nut will recognise her urges to turn the world off and escape between the pages of fiction.

Now reading: A House in Corfu by Emma Tennant. And still plugging away at The Jane Austen Book Club too.

On my bookshelf

Infidel :: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written a gripping account of her life as a young Muslim woman who's lived in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and much later, the Netherlands. She survived beatings, female circumcision, a forced marriage, and later death threats, in a society and religion that ignores women's rights and subjugates them. She sought asylum in the Netherlands where she studied political science and became an elected member of parliment. Ayaan went on to denouce Islam while working for Muslim immigrant issues in that country.

It's taken me nearly 5 months to finish this book. It's not an easy read and much of Ayaan's life had me seething at the injustices she faced, especially at the hands of her own family members. Despite everything, she still holds them close and thanks them at the end. Highly recommended and an unforgettable biography.

Now reading: Literacy and Longing in LA (my on-the-go book) and The Jane Austen Book Club (bedside table book).

On my bookshelf

Blackberry Wine :: Joanne Harris
Wine replaces chocolates as we return to the French village of Lansquenet which was the setting for her earlier Chocolat. We meet writer Jay Mackintosh who impulsively buys a chateau and escapes there with a half dozen bottles of homemade wine. Alternate chapters are flashbacks to his childhood summers in Kirby Monckton and his friendship with Joe, an eccentric character who inspired Jay's first novel. Fourteen years on, Jay's got the worst case of writer's block ever. But with the uncorking of one of Joe's Specials, his typewriter keys start flying again. And the magic returns. A worthy follow-up to Chocolat.

On my bookshelf

Stardust :: Neil Gaiman
What on earth took me so long to pick up a Neil Gaiman book? Too much hype? Brand name author? But I'm so glad I did because I love Stardust. Another fairy tale set in England but with none of the darkness of the last book. Love, magic, adventure, evil witches, murderous princes, fairies and a fallen star found by a handsome youth. An immensely fun read.

Now reading? I haven't quite decided yet. You know how it is - you have a few books left and you're reluctant to pick any one because you want to hoard them tlll you have bought few more, so you won't feel completely bereft as the pile dwindles. Silly huh?