Continuing with the book review catch up this weekend ....

I probably should have read Long Way Round before reading Long Way Down which is Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's second motorcycle journey.  But from reading reviews of Long Way Down, perhaps I have played it well because it has been largely panned in comparison to the Long Way Round.  Sequels rarely measure up to the original anyway.  I'm not sure if Ewan and Charley actually do write the book or if someone just transcribes it from the video footage.  I've seen a few episode of Long Way Down on the telly and it's all remarkably similar, almost like a transcript.  So you wouldn't read this book in search of some beautiful pieces of writing because there really isn't any.  What I took from it was a sense of adventure in the wonderful country of Africa which I have just started to explore over the last couple of years and am just amazed by its abundance of natural beauty and wonders. So I just loved that about the book and also some of the amazing charity work that goes on down there.  Very inspiring.  Makes you want to really get involved. 

I liked this book and I'll definitely get to reading Long Way Round as well if it's meant to be much more inspirational.

Three out of five   

I devoured this little gem of a book one afternoon when I wasn't feeling particularly well.  What a great choice.  Easy reading and a pick-me-up type book which is interesting given the subject matter of being cheated on when 7 months pregnant with your husband's baby.  Nora Ephron is of course from When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle fame so I wasn't expecting to be disappointed by this book.  I think Helen Fielding is probably a Nora Ephron fan as both authors have the same knack for bringing humor to relationship problems in a very contemporary way that people now attribute to Bridget Jones but Heartburn was written in the 80s.  I got through this one so quickly that it will definitely deserve more than one read and further examinations due to the recipes that she sprinkles into the story.  Gives a bit more meaning to the title Heartburn.  Food has definitely helped define several moments in my life and you associate certain foods with very specific experiences and I love how Rachel (the main character) does the same in recipes that I hear are really good.  I have a feeling this book will turn into an old favorite along with some of the recipes after I try them out in the kitchen.

Four out of five    

I had high hopes for this one after reading a bunch of positive reviews.  I kept it on my to read list and then had my book club pick it for our next selection.  I can't wait to hear what the other girls thought because I was severely disappointed by Away.  Away starts off in a NYC of the 1920s.  For me, that was a promising start as I love books that can give me a historical flavor of one of my favorite cities.  Lillian is a Jewish immigrant from Russia who arrives in NYC and becomes the mistress of a father and son.  Her family was killed back home but then she learns that her little daughter escaped and is still alive back home.  She travels cross country to Seattle, Alaska, and up to Siberia in order to make her way back home to find her daughter.  It was during her travels that the book really fell apart for me.  Her life in NY wasn't riveting but I wasn't quite so dispirited while reading that bit.  As she travels to Seattle and beyond, the story is over the top with her meeting up with a prostitue and pimp, getting sent to a woman's prison/rehabilitation center, etc. It was too much packed into a 200 pg book and wasn't believeable.  I couldn't wait for the book to end.  Can you guess if she finds her daughter?  Do we care? Eh.

Two out of five  

I've got loads of trip pics and book reviews on a back log. Not sure I will ever get to it all.  I have two weeks free in between jobs but I'd rather not plant myself in front of the computer any more than necessary since that is what I spend the rest of the my life doing. Does anyone else feel like a slave to email??  Now I wish that people would use the phone more!

Anyway, about 'Moab' -- I found it to be pretty amusing, over my head, tedious, and admirable all at the same time.  It was a hard read at times because I didn't know a thing about Stephen Fry and this book is his autobiography (of the first 20 years of his life anyway).  I've been living in the UK for 4 years but a lot of British stuff is still a total mystery to me and he discusses a lot of British 'stuff'.  What I was able to get out of it was ... that you could screw around and getting into some pretty deep shit in your adolescence but still attend Cambridge and become a pretty successful guy.  However, you can probably only do this if your IQ is in the near genius range (and do you realy want to risk it?).  Being supremely intelligent but socially awkward/not sporty only lead to Mr. Fry acting out against the authorities.  His story also shows that a stable family background doesn't necessarily mean that the kids will come out of it all functioning 'normally'.  This was a book club selection and during the discussion one of the girls said that was her favorite part of the book as his abnormality despite having an upbringing with little to no fault made her feel normal for having issues as well.   

Fy also opened my eyes to the British public school boy experience and that it's a breeding ground for possible same sex experimentation.  Some people swear this is true but I don't know myself - not being familiar with the school system here at all.  Anyone have an opinion on this?

Above all, I was very impressed by Fry's intellect and expertise in a variety of topics.  He wasn't shy about showing off his knowledge and going off on quite a few tangents in this display. But it is his autobiography and I can't say that I wouldn't do the same if I was writing one!  He is immensely honest about his wrong doings but you never find yourself disliking him in any way which is quite an accomplishment and probably why he is so still so well liked today.

Could be two and half or a three but I'll go with three since I now like the guy.

Three out of five.    

I'm happy that I've managed to get back into the rhythm of reading.  It's a pity that it only takes me a day or two to get through a book that I am really enjoying.  They are over too fast!  And for books that I don't like as much, I usually take over a week ... and I can't wait for them to be over!

On the whole, I really enjoyed The Island.  It's a story of life in a small village of Crete which is a short boat ride away from the island of Spinalonga, a former leper colony. The fable-like storytelling style of writing was a bit irritating at times.  It seemed overly simplistic and is fine for a short story but not for a novel.

I'll take the book for what it is ... a bit over dramatized, a bit of cheesy romance.  All the women are devastatingly beautiful and the men are dark and handsome.  While reading, you wonder if you would feel as sorry for these people if they were described as ordinary (horrible, I know)!  But I have to admit. I cried.  It's definitely chick lit but with a bit more purpose as you get a glimpse of what life was like for people banished to a leper colony.  I have no idea if the book was historically accurate or not but I won't find myself quoting it just to be on the safe side.  Just a bit of light reading.

Four out of five    

(Xanga still not able to find books.  The Island )

Ok, finally catching up with all the books ...

This one was a bit touch and go for me.  I started it, then put it down, then resumed again ... got a bit more engrossed but then she kind of lost me at the end.  I did like that this was a WWII novel from the French perspective which is a new angle for me.  This novel is divided into two parts: part one despicts the French fleeing Paris and the part two is German occupation of the French countryside.  The structure of the novel made it difficult for me to gain much momentum.  She spends a few pages developing the story of a particular set of characters and then switches to other people in the next chapter.  I then have to reorient myself to the new group of people.  As soon as I do that, the chapter is practically over.  It is interesting to see the wide range of characters that she depicts from different socio-economic levels.  Even though the common enemy is the Germans, the French still stick to their own social classes and the upper classes continue to look down upon the lower ones.  I would have thought that there would be a bit more unity in a time of war but I suppose this mentality would be hard to change.  There is also a nice depiction of French and German co-existence.  It was a very long war and the two sides couldn't have spent all of it avoiding socialising with each other.  Some lines were crossed and even romance bloomed.  Life goes on inspite of war. 

Two out of five  

(Not able to find the link to the book using Xanga for some reason.  Suite Francaise. )

I absolutely adored the first section of this book which was of her travels through Italy (mostly Rome).  Of course, I am quite biased as Italy is my favorite European country, having been there on six separate trips in the last five years!  I found her experiences in Italy magical, although nothing too extraordinary really happened.  It is just my own daydreams of lounging about in Italy, learning the language, eating great food, and meeting friendly Italians coming into the equation.  Thus, I was a bit let down once that section of the book was over and she moved onto India where her life swung to the other end of the spectrum consisting of pre-dawn yoga sessions and following the blue light to god (not quite as fun in my book).

This is a mostly light-hearted read of one woman's journey in repairing her soul after coming out of a failed marriage and rebound romance.  She spends a year taking care of herself and really getting to know herself.  Not enough people have the luxury of doing this (she does, as a successful writer) but you can really see that this is an experience that everyone can benefit from.  Especially in this day and age where you have so much going on that you don't take enough time to take care of numero uno, yourself.  And didn't someone once say that a life not examined is not worth living? 

It also makes me think that the usual gap year that the Brits and Aussies take in their early 20s is pre-mature.  Those trips must generally be spent in alcoholic stupors with not much life examination as a by-product.  Such a trip should be delayed and taken when you've been through a bit more of life and could really use a breather.

Three and a half out of five    

This was my book club's third selection and there was about a equal amount of I hated it, the best book we have read thus far, and then ambivalence.  I definitely fall into the more ambivalent category.  I don't have much to say about this one ... hence a review of the book about 3 weeks after our last meeting.

I always like to build upon my knowledge base (well, who doesn't) and I liked the fact that this book taught me about the civil war in Nigeria because it is more than likely that I never would have known much about this war otherwise.  However, the author obviously have a specific audience in mind when writing.  And this audience is one which is already familiar with the war and its issues as she makes little to no explanation about the politics.  So I definitely used Google as a resource in order to get some kind of background or else a few things would not have been clear to me while reading.

Yes...so not much else to say ... sorry!

Two out of five  

I have lots of reviews to write and travel photos to post but I'm afraid I have been lost to the world of Facebook and I am satisfying my procrastination urges in that manner.  Find me on Facebook!

Been doing Atkins again for the last 2 weeks and I am so hungry.  It is 3 am and I am so hungry I cannot sleep.  I don't even have any carbs in my apartment that I could eat to make the pain go away.  I am just dreaming of having one of those egg and bacon paninis from Starbucks tomorrow morning.  I wish Starbucks were open at 3 am. I think they put crack in those things as they are sooOOoooo good.  But if I hadn't been eating one of those once a week along with my other indulgences over this summer - perhaps I wouldn't be needing to do Atkins in the first place. 

Gelato and pasta in Roma in a week's time though. Thank god.