Currently Browsing: USA
Oct 26, 2009
Revolutionary Road can be summed up as a depressing book written in beautiful, poetic prose. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it, but despite the darkness of the subject matter and the full awareness of how it was going to end up (tragically -that was clear from the first page), I was riveted. It is a rediscovered American classic which, I believe, has recently been made into a film. I can see why –...
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Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
May 14, 2009
They Plotted Revenge Against America – Abe F. March
I started reading this book the day before the recent swine flu scare hit Europe. It was pretty ironic timing, as Abe F. March’s novel, They Plotted Revenge Against Amercia tells the story of a group of young Palestinians who, having cruelly lost their entire families in the continuing battle between US-supported Israel and Palestine, decide to join an organisation to seek revenge. That revenge was... read more
May 14, 2009
Making Light of Being Heavy – Kandy Siahaya
Obesity is so frequently hailed as a ‘problem’ and a ‘disaster for the country’ in the newspapers nowadays that it is no surprise that we assume that every overweight person is just one more statistic whose life will be cut short because their heart will give out by the time they are 20, and in the short years they are alive they will be so miserably unhappy that they will do... read more
Apr 29, 2009
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet – Reif Larsen
Uncorrected proof copies of a novel can be of varying quality. Some I have received have had paper covers (although the shabby appearance belied the quality of the writing within). Others I have received looked no different to what I imagine the finished product would look like, although the illustrations may have been blurred or left out altogether. When I received my copy of The Selected Works of... read more
Mar 27, 2009
Saffron Dreams – Shaila Abdullah
If your husband, who is a waiter in the Window on the World Restaurant in one of the Twin Towers, is killed during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, you would have every right to be angry at the perpetrators. You would have every right to hate them. You would have every right to express your anguish of your pain and loss. But if your husband, who is a waiter in the Window on... read more
Mar 25, 2009
Beat The Reaper – Josh Bazell
A single word came to my head when I finished this book. Wow. What a ride. This was a clever combination of graphic violence, black humour, thrills and empathy and it was a story which just kept you on the edge of your seat. For a first novel, it is an explosion from an author who has a fantastic way with words, the ability to craft strong characters and a knack for painting an image which is sometimes... read more
Feb 3, 2009
The Portrait of Mrs Charbuque – Jeffrey Ford
Combine an unusual plot with a beautifully written book, and you are sure to have a winning combination. Jeffrey Ford managed to achieve that in The Portrait of Mrs Charbuque with only a few minor flaws. This was a book exploring madness and obsession, mystery and unhappiness, all put together in a nineteenth century setting that was completely believable and completely gorgeous. This is the story of an... read more
Jan 19, 2009
Kissing Games of the World – Sandi Kahn Shelton
In many cases, a good book isn’t compelling because of the plot. The quality of a book comes from far more than that. Of course, the plot is important, but Kissing Games of the World provides evidence that the plot can almost be incidental. When your characters are strong, and the journey from the beginning to the end of the book is undertaken with such care, you have the makings of a fantastic,... read more
