2012-29 - The Wreck of the Zanzibar, by Michael Morpurgo

29 - The Wreck of the Zanzibar, by Michael Morpurgo, 101 pages,Egmont Books, 1995

WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my niece Sahar
ELAPSED TIME: <1 hour
RATING: Good

 

Michael is reading a diary left to him by his Aunt Laura.  In 1907 her twin brother ran away to sea.  Laura relates the story from her own perspective: of being a girl on an island who is not even allowed to row out to the ships, of food scarcity where one meal a day is all that can be hoped for.  And Laura continues to fight against that: to earn the right to row, to save a turtle despite that being obvious food.

This is a very good children's book.  My only concern about the choice of words is when her brother tells her of the places he's been: "America, Ireland, France, Spain, Africa even."  Is it that he's referring to countries within Europe and continents elsewhere, or is Morpurgo referring to the USA as America (as the Europeans are wont to do), and referring to Africa with the broad colonialist brush?  I fear it is the latter.

2012-28 - The Stag and Hen Weekend, by Mike Gayle

28 - The Stag and Hen Weekend, by Mike Gayle, 402 pages, Hodder and Stoughton, 2012

WHY I PICKED IT: I read everything by Mike Gayle
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Meh

 

Mike Gayle tried to do something interesting... One book, two stories of the same period of time.  Phil and Helen are getting married in a week; one story (201 pages) tells of Helen's Hen Weekend at a fancy hotel and spa; and the other story (201 pages) tells of Phil's Stag Weekend in Amsterdam.  You can read the stories in either order (I read Helen's first).

 

Helen bumps into her ex... the guy who cheated on her, and admitted it a week before their wedding (years earlier), in order to end the relationship.  Now he wants her back.  In Phil's story, he bumps into Helen's ex' ex-wife (small world?  I think so!).

 

Although I typically like Gayle's style of writing "Guy-Lit," I don't really like Chick-Lit (so Helen's story wasn't engaging for me), and I felt like Phil's level of insecurity was a bit of a pain to read. (so Phil's story was a bit of a pain).  Zero-for-two: Do not recommend.

2012-27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank

27 - i can't tell you, by Hillary Frank, 196 pages, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004

WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it at a discounted book store for $1
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Good

 

Jake gets into a fight with his best friend and says things he shouldn't have... and concludes that talking = trouble, so he'll only communicate by writing.  The book is a collection of conversations written down on notepads, scraps of paper, and whiteboards - some of them are both sided (as his friends' agree to participate for the sake of conversation flow), others only one-sided (as the other party spoke back to him).

 

Xandra lives on Jake's floor and flirts with him constantly... but both of them are too afraid to make a move.

 

This is the story of  Jake's experience over the following months.  High literature?  No.  Light hearted entertaining read?  Yes.

2012-26 - The Absolutist, by John Boyne

26 - The Absolutist, by John Boyne, 309 pages, Doubleday Canada, 2011

WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by a teacher from Australia that I met on the Waterloo Express from Heathrow
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Very Good

Twenty year old Tristan Sadler having returned from WWII pays a visit Marian, his best friend's sister, ostensibly to return the letters that she had written to Will, her brother.  Will had been killed by firing squad as a conscientious objector after he laid down his gun.  Despite the official reason for his visit, Tristan is really there to tell Marian the details of what happened "over there," and unburden himself of a terrible secret.

Boyne, who came to critical acclaim for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, has written a melancholic tale that is easy to read with interesting characters, and calls into question the definition of coward.

This book is very good, but I hope to not carry these characters with me.

2012-25 - The Sins of the Father, by Jeffrey Archer

25 - The Sins of the Father, by Jeffrey Archer, 384 pages, Pan Macmillan, 2012

WHY I PICKED IT: I've read everything by Jeffrey Archer, and it's the second volume of the Clifton Chronicles
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Meh

 

Following in the style of Kane and Abel and As the Crow Flies, the Clifton Chronicles follow the life of Harry Clifton.  In the first book, we see how a few brilliant people contribute to making him the man that he is.  As this volume starts, Harry goes to prison for a crime he didn't commit, to protect the woman he loves (who may also be his half sister)... and the (epic) tale continues.

This is not in the realm of Archer's best work.  Unlike the other two books that I mention, the negative characters in this book are much weaker and mostly simply roll over and disappear.  If a classic three act play is to introduce characters, put them in a tough situation, and get them out of it... this fails as the "tough situations" are almost too easily resolved.

 

All in all, do not recommend.

 

2012-24 - Rigged, by Ben Mezrich

24 - Rigged, by Ben Mezrich, 320 pages, Harper Perennial, 2008

WHY I PICKED IT: Wanted something light and quick as I came to the end of my vacation
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Meh

Ben tells the tale of a middle class kid who worked his way through Oxford and Harvard ... who found himself working for the New York Mercantile Exchange, where billions of dollars of crude oil is traded each week.  This is the story of how he (quickly) got promoted to VP Strategy (at the age of 25!), and sought to revolutionize the industry... while struggling to understand the hard and fast lifestyle of the young and extremely rich.

The only good thing about this book is that it was a really quick read.

2012-23 - 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami

23 - 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami, 1184 pages, Random House Vintage, 2011
WHY I PICKED IT: I read everything by Murakami
ELAPSED TIME: 8 days
RATING: Good


Telling the story of Aomame and Tengo, briefly held hands as children... their lives are about to intersect in this parallel universe in the year 1984. Aomame (a personal trainer / serial killer) and Tengo (a math teacher / novelist) were social outsiders as children... 25 years later, they still prefer lives of relative solitude.  The story isn't straightforward or easy to understand, but the characters (including all of the ancillary ones) have depth, Murakami's style is readable, and the story is engrossing.  If you liked Norwegian Wood and Sputnik Sweetheart, you'll enjoy 1Q84.