Nose in a Book

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy

Read for: Orbis Terrarum Challenge – Ireland

Oh, how I love a good book by Maeve Binchy and this one was no exception.  Binchy writes stories about normal people going about their everyday lives.  Her stories are just so welcoming and fun to read.  This one centres around a new Heart Clinic in Dublin and the people that work their and the patients that come there.  Many of the main characters have appeared in previous novels and some old friends make small appearances as well.  But the book is still enjoyable for new Binchy readers.

The book reads almost like a collection of short stories that are all related but still has the flow of a novel.  Binchy is a master at writing about a large cast of characters.  I’ve read books before and not been able to keep track of who’s who or only being interested in a few of the characters.  But I never have a hard time keeping track of Binchy’s characters.  And I always care about all the characters individual stories. And I never feel that I need to go back and reread part of the book because I’ve forgotten what happened previously which can be a problem with some books that change perspective from character to character.

I also really love her writing style.  It’s just so laid back, without any extra fluff.  She tells you what you need to know and then gets on with the story.  It’s very easy to read.  I would give this one an 8/10.

My favoutrite Binchy books is still The Glass Lake.  What’s your favourite Binchy novel?

This one is so fun!  Basically you make a quiz about books.  I’ve tried everyone’s that is linked so far and they are HARD!!  (I didn’t comment unless I knew any answers…didn’t want to look like a dork just saying, “Uh, duh, I dunno…”)

So a couple people have given the first line in a book and you have to name the book.  I’m going to give you the last line.  All of these books are very well known.  Some are classics, some are definitely not.  Some should be really easy, some are harder.  All are novels but range from children’s to YA to adult fiction.  Extra points if you can provide the author without cheating!

1.  It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.  Charlotte was both.

2. And he leaned down to press his cold lips once more to my throat.

3. He raised his hand and over the desolate earth he traced in space the sign of the dollar.

4. ” ‘God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world,’ ” whispered Anne softly.

5. Oxen and wainropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts, or start upright in bed, with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: “Pieces of eight! pieces of eight!”

6. Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper.

7. I ran.  A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children.  But I didn’t care.  I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips.  I ran.

8.  And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace.  He looked a long time.

9.  The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years.  All was well.

10. But they never learned what it was that Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which had to do, for there was a gust of wind, and they were gone.

Good Luck!

Check out the other quizzes at Weekly Geeks.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

I just finished this book.  The book jacket is a little unusual so I’m going to quote it here for all of you that haven’t read it:

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe.  Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book.  We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno.  (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.)  And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world.  We hope you never have to encounter such a fence.

While I do think this is a good book, I don’t think it as significant as whoever wrote that summary does.  Anyway, the book is about a nine-year old boy, Bruno, who is extremely naive (if he had been younger, the whole story would have been a lot more believable).  Bruno’s father is a commandant in Nazi Germany and is sent with him family to run Auschwitz.  Bruno goes exploring along the fence that surrounds the camp and meets a little boy on the other side of the fence.

As I mentioned before, Bruno should have been younger – the story would have worked better.  Although the evidence is right in front of his face, he never really figures out what is really going on.  I think most nine-year-olds would have picked up on the clues and put it all together.

The other thing that bothered me (and this is a tiny nit-picky detail but it really bugged me) is that Bruno called Hitler, “the Fury” and Auschwitz “Out-With”.  I understand the symbolism, it’s not all that subtle, but the book was written in English, but they would have been speaking German and as far as I know (which isn’t very far at all…) these words do not sound the same in German.  Anyone who speaks more German than me care to correct me?  (Sprechen Sie Deutsch?)

Overall, if was a good read, easy to get through and has a definite message.  It told a true story about WWII without being overly depressing, mostly because Bruno was so naive – in fact that was the most depressing thing about the book.  But just a warning – and I saw this coming from a mile away – the ending is horrifying, but it’s also kind of fitting.  Make sense?  I would give this one a 7/10.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Winner of 2009 Newbery Medal

I just picked this up at the library yesterday and the cover drew me in right away.  Even the title is mysterious and alluring.  Anyway, I liked the reading of this story more than I actually like the plot, not that that’s a bad thing, but I found myself wishing for a little more information towards the end of the book.  I think it’s partly because it’s meant for younger audiences than myself!

Before I get ahead of myself though…a summary.  The book begins as three members of a family are murdered (not graphically, but maybe a little too disturbing to read to my six year old).  The murderer heads to the last family members bedroom, a toddler and finds that the baby has disappeared.  The murderer follows the baby’s scent to a nearby graveyard where ghosts help protect him and eventually become his family. They name him Nobody, Bod for short, and teach give him the Freedom of the Graveyard which allows him to see and visit with all of the ghosts and learn some graveyard tricks.

The rest of the story is kind of meandering as it tells the tale of Bod’s childhood, but Gaiman is such a good storyteller that the road is actually much more interesting than the destination.  Of course, throughout the story, the murderer still looks for Bod and periodically appears, but it’s not until the climax that Bod must face him.  Along the way he has many adventures and learns many lessons that aren’t necessarily related to the ending but they are so captivating that as the reader, I didn’t really care.  This was a quick, enjoyable read with a little bit of magic and a little bit of intrigue and I loved it!

On a side note, I’ve decided I really need to come up with some kind of a rating system for the books I read because “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it” just aren’t cutting it for me anymore.  I think for now I’ll just give each book a rating out of 10 until I can come up with something  a little more creative.  So for this one, I give it an 8/10, maybe even an 8.5…

Other Reviews:

• 1 more chapter
• Stainless Steel Droppings
• Things Mean A lot
• Bart’s Bookshelf
• The Novel World
• Worducopia
• Becky’s Book Reviews

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Read for: Orbis Terrarum – US

Oskar Schell is a nine-year old boy whose father was killed when the WTC came down on 9/11.  He is one of the narrators of this novel and is by far my favourite.  About a year after his father’s death, he finds a key in an envelope with the name “Black” written on it, in his father’s things.  As his father used to set up games and scavenger hunts for him, he assumes this was one that was planned before his death.  Oskar sets out to find the lock that pairs with his key by visiting all of the Blacks in NYC that are listed in the phone book.

The other two narrators in the book are Oskar’s paternal grandparents.  I actually found these parts of the story to be distracting.  His grandparents knew each other as children and were some of the few surviving family members of the bombing of Dresden during WWII.  Their part of the story tells of their childhood and how they coped with this tragedy.  I understand where Foer was going with this part of the story, but to be honest, I just found it distracting.

Oskar, who is of above average intelligence (and some reviews have said he was precocious, annoying and unbelievable), was really a very lovable character.  I actually found him very believable.  I remember how I felt when I heard about 9/11, but reading about this little boy and his search to find meaning in this tragic event reminded me again of how heartbreaking and shocking it was, especially for people who were personally affected by it.

The novel had me laughing and crying and it was definitely an enjoyable read.

Oh yeah, read this reivew over at books I done read.  It says everything I felt but much better.

Post edit: I reread this book and changed some of my opinions.  Read about it here.