Top Ten Tuesday: Underrated books - must reads!

The topic of this week's Top Ten Tuesday is Underrated Books as in books you can't believe aren't more popular, books that are more obscure and so on. I love this topic. There are so many books that I can't believe aren't getting more hype or that I love but that have not received the acclaim that I think they deserve. So here we go - don't forget to pop by The Broke and The Bookish to join in!

10) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Many of you know the musical and have probably seen either that one or the film - but have you read the book? Otherwise, I can highly recommend it. It is a short but great story about Christine Daaé with the amazing voice, her childhood sweetheart and the opera phantom who is in love with her. It is not your typical love story but it is a really sweet and sometimes scary story.



9) Ronja, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren
One of the best children's book ever about the strong, independent girl Ronja who lives in the forest. If you haven't read it yet, you have to get it now. It is a classic.



8) Havana Real by Yoani Sanchez
This is a non-fiction book, a collection of blog posts from the Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, giving us a glimpse into the life of a family in Cuba who are struggling to make ends meet even though they are among the well-off. Yoani is a really cool woman with a strong voice and lots of opinions. Amazing book, was completely unable to put it down once I had started it.



7) The Exception by Christian Jungersen
A deeply disturbing book about adult bullying the work place. The point-of-view keeps changing between the characters which makes it really difficult to be black and white about who are the evil ones and who are the good ones. It is a bit of a thriller, a suspenseful read that deserves many readers!



6) Namedropper by Emma Forrest
This was one of my favourite YA books when I was a teenager. It is a coming-of-age story about a Viva whose world seems to be populated with characters - from the gorgeous best friend Treena to her gay uncle Manny with the Liz Taylor obsession this book takes us from North London to California and back as we follow Viva learning a thing or two about life. It is full of pop culture references and my 15 year-old self loved it.



5) Dewitt, Helen: The Last Samurai
Ludo is a gifted child, a child prodigy, a kid for whom learning is the best way of entertaining himself. So while his mother struggles to keep up with the five-year-olds wish to learn Japanese and make enough money to get them through the day, Ludo wonders who his father is. A really beautiful book with great characters that you cannot help but love.



4) Stolen Spring by Hans Scherfig
This on is a Danish classic, a must-read on the Danish high school curriculum and for a very good reason: it is a real treasure! A literary feast of amazingness! It is the story of a group of school boys in a very disciplined school where the teachers use their powers to degrade the students - especially the latin teacher Blomme is a real nasty piece of work and the book centers on the mystery of his death. If you are a fan of classic school novels from early 1900s, then this one is for you.



3) The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce
Forget about Twilight and House of Night and all those paranormal romance vampire books that are flooding the market at the moment. This is as much of a vampire classic as Bram Stoker's Dracula, if you ask me, except they aren't vampires - they are vampyres, darkangels that feed on souls. When Ariel's mistress, the beautiful Eoduin is taken by a darkangel, she follows her to try to free her from the vampyre's clutches.



2) Nordkraft by Jacob Ejersbo
If you liked the film "Trainspotting", you will love this book. Ejersbo's novel is a masterpiece about living a hard life full of drugs, alcohol and abuse on the bottom of society. This is a book about the people we see on the street and that makes us thankful for our lives. It is so gripping and thought-provoking that it moved me to tears.



1) The Sopranos by Alan Warner
One of my favourite books (it has been for years) is this fantastic tour de force about a group of Catholic school girls on an outing from their small village to a larger town for a choir competition. The amount of mischief (doesn't cover it at all!) they get into is disturbing - getting drunk, getting their uniforms stolen... it is all just the beginning of the adventure.

Review: "Girl, Missing" by Sophie McKenzie

Review in short: great books for tweens and teens. I guess you'd like a bit more detail though? So here it comes, a full review of Sophie McKenzie's young adult book "Girl, Missing". The girl in question Lauren is not actually missing. She is living in London with her parents and she has always known that she is adopted. This has never really been an issue for her - what is an issue, however, is the fact that Lauren is very much becoming a teenager with all the mood swings and the feelings of being misunderstood and not fitting in. Luckily Lauren has a great friend, Jam, who is always there for her through thick and thin. So when Lauren finds a picture online that looks strangely like her as a toddler, she of course tells Jam. Trouble is, the picture is on a website about abducted children. Years ago a toddler in USA disappeared, a girl with almost the same name as Lauren and almost the same looks... Soon Lauren and Jam are on a transatlantic hunt to find out the truth about the toddler on the picture and about Lauren's childhood but someone definitely doesn't want Lauren to unearth the secrets of the past and it all gets dangerous...

Had I been 13 or 14 years old I would have absolutely loved this book. As it is, I am probably too old for it - nah, definitely too old for it - and I have to say that I found it hard to sympathy with Lauren. Her teenage moodiness and mood swings and her general being unfair to her parents and to Jam is pretty exhausting if you ask me. I understand but it is tiring! Luckily she realises her own selfishness at some point but it is a little late for me, I must say.

Read it if: You love contemporary quality YA or if you are 14 years old.

A little bit of a Princess Bride

"The Princess Bride"... such a divine little whimsical title. "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman. A divine book! Whimsical, no more like satirical but absolutely delicious. I will be reviewing it soon but here's a little something to share the "The Princess Bride" love:

"I need your advice," she interrupted. "What can I do to improve my personal appearance."
"Start by bathing," her father said.
"And do something with your hair while you're at it," her mother said.
p. 59

She did her best thinking then. Not that her best thinking ever expanded horizons. Still, she told herself, she was not a dummy either, so as long as she kept her thoughts to herself, well, where was the harm? (p. 90)

From his position at the point of the Armada, Prince Humperdinck stared up at the Cliffs of Insanity. This was just like any other hunt. He made himself think away quarry. It did not matter if you were after an antelope or a bride-to-be... p. 165

By 5:48, Buttercup felt quite sure she would be dead. p 305

Review: "Eleven"

I really can't remember how "Eleven" by Mark Watson ended up on my TBR list. Don't misunderstand me, I am glad it did, it is a good read but it is just not the kind of book that I would normally pick up. I must have read a review of it somewhere and decided that it deserved a try. Anyway I took it with me when I went to London on a two-week vacation (I know, luxury! I am staying with my boyfriend so no expensive hotel bills but lots of great homecooked meals, the perfect vacation - now back to the review).

"Eleven" is whimsical and its special trademark is that though it features one main character there are a bunch of minor characters and they are all essential to the plot. The minor characters are the story, really. However, first let me tell you about the main character with the strange name Xavier Ireland. This is not really Xavier's real name, he left that behind years ago when he moved from Australia to London to start a new life after a very traumatic event that I for spoiler-related reasons won't tell you about... So now he is Xavier, working in London as a nighttime radio host advising sleepless Londoners on everything from true love to the meaning of life (I know - quite a demanding job!). His colleague Murray is not only Xavier's producer but also his close friend who is constantly in need of help from Xavier and Xavier is there for him. Actually Xavier is quite a helpful guy, however, one day he walks past a bunch of boys bullying and beating up a boy but though he does try to stop it, he doesn't really do anything and definitely not enough. So the boy gets beaten up and from this event other events spiral that eventually lead back to Xavier.
And then there is the speed date that Murray persuades Xavier to join him for and where Xavier doesn't find a date but instead finds a cleaning lady, Pippa. Pippa turns out to be a real power girl who takes over his life while cleaning his messy (...read: disgusting) flat and asking him questions about what actually happened in Australia so that the reader finally understands what has led Xavier to where he is in his life.

"Eleven" is basically a book about domino effects - about how things that seem hardly noticeable in the end lead to big, life-changing events. It is slightly whimsical in the approach to fate and apparently (or so I've been told) it is reminiscent of "One Day" by David Nicholls. I quite liked this book though I have to say that I found it a bit on the light side. I would have liked to explore the characters of Xavier and Pippa more - especially Pippa because I really really liked her. She has this approach to life that if all she can be is a cleaning lady, then she is going to be the best cleaning lady that she can and I really like that about her and for me, it was Pippa who made the book.

Read it if: You like philosophizing about why things happen or if you listen to a lot of night-time radio.

Top Ten Tuesday: Good trends, bad trends

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish and I love it! This week is really interesting - it is Top Ten Trends You Would Like to See More or Less of!
So here's my list:

See more of:
1) Books being promoted in the blogosphere! I think it is so great the bloggers share their love of books and promote books that maybe wouldn't get the attention they deserve if it wasn't for the blogosphere. We love great authors and wonderful books and sharing that love is beautiful!

2) Young, female authors writing literary fiction and getting acknowledged for their hard work and talent - such as Téa Obreht, author of "The Tiger's Wife"

3) Authors being translated to English. There are so many great authors out there and they deserve to be translated - one example is Sofi Oksanen's fantastic novel "Purge" that has been translated into English and is really popular.

4) Dystopian and steampunk, great imaginative genres that deserve more attention and more bestsellers.

5) Wrapping up classics in beautiful, tasteful, cool covers such as these below. Personally I would really love for E. F. Benson's "Mapp and Lucia" to be given some more attention.





See less of:
1) Vampires and werewolves. Enough is enough people. I don't care if they are sparkling or have tattoos, I don't want anymore of them for a while. Please come up with something else to write about.

2) Less focus on incest/pedophilia as romance/love relationships. Though I really liked "Repeat It Today With Tears" by Anne Peile and liked "Tiger, Tiger" by Margaux Fragoso, I really do not like this topic...

3) Paranormal romance... girl and vampire, girl and werewolf, girl and angel... it is becoming ever so slightly tiring.

4) Celebrity novels, ghostwritten by some poor guy/girl who really needed the money. I am not talking about real biographies from politicians etc. but Katie Price as an author? Really? That's just plain wrong.

5) Awful covers that try to sell a book as something it isn't (...or try to trade off Twilight, such bad taste!!)

Review: "Horns"

I don't know how to explain what type of book "Horns" by Joe Hill is - I can't really think of any other books quite like this one. It is really different from most other books that I have read and I had no real expectations when I started to read it. I had read a decent review of it, thought the plot sounded interesting and wanted to give it a go and so I did. Joe Hill, the author, has a bit of a parental heritage to live up to as he is the son of no other than Stephen King and I have to say that probably that is where my only real expectation came from. I somehow expected the book to remind me of Stephen King and I am happy to report that it didn't though I know that some readers disagree with me on that one. Joe Hill has his own voice, his own language and style so even though the plot sounds like something that King could have thought up, it is treated in a way that is all Hill. Love it.

The main character of "Horns" is Ignatius William Perrish, Ig, is a normal guy at least in his own eyes and at least until the day he wakes up with... horns! Out of nowhere he has grown a pair of horns that doesn't only make people stare but also makes them divulge all of their secrets. From the embarrassing to the downright evil and cruel ones. Suddenly Ig finds that the people he thought he knew are very different from the way he perceived them and that the people he thought he loved maybe don't love him. It is a rough awakening. Especially because the horns reveal what Ig really doesn't want to know - they everybody think he killed his ex-girlfriend, the only girl he has ever love and the only real good thing in his life.

I won't say much more about the plot here because I don't want to create spoilers or reveal too much. What is so great about this book is that it manages to combine the serious and the humorous in a very elegant way. Ig, who is already shut more or less out of society due to the suspicions that everyone have about him, become completely shut out yet gets a much better understanding when he grows the horns. Suddenly he is able to see the most vile sides of humans and this means that he gets completely new perspective on everything that happens around him. The love story part is touching and the ending was amazing - I feared that the ending wouldn't live up to the plot but it did, it more than did. However, the book is so funny. There are a lot of scenes that made me smile and laugh - Ig's family is horrible, really horrible. Especially his grandmother! Ig himself is great as a main character because even though he is flawed and even unkind at times, especially when it comes to girls, he is very easy to feel sympathy for and to like.

Read it if: You liked Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" or loves the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil".

I love pre-loved books

Some people would never consider buying a used book but I have to say that I am just the opposite. Call the what you like - used books, vintage books, second-hand books, I call them pre-loved! And I love trawling the thrift shops for books that need a new home and to donate books so that others can read them and enjoy them. Especially the ones that I didn't like - I feel like they deserve a second chance. The other day I was going from second-hand shop to second-hand shop looking for books to buy and this is what I came home with:









Happy reading!

GIVEAWAY: "Wetlands" by Charlotte Roche

Time for another give-away - this time it is my own hardback copy of "Wetlands" by Charlotte Roche. It cause quite a stir when it came out and you can read my review of the novel here.

Rules to participate in the give-away:
- The competition is open globally
- Winner will be selected on August 1st in a random draw
- Leave a comment recommending a book that you think I will like and remember to write you email address so I can contact you if your name is drawn
- Book will be sent to the winner in the middle of August

:-)

Review: "After The Party"

Five or six years ago I stumbled over a novel called "Ralph's Party" by an author named Lisa Jewell. I found it in a thrift store for next to nothing, I was a poor student and picked it up hoping for a fun, light read and that's exactly what I got. At the time I was going through a chick lit phase where that was more or less all I read - maybe because I spent so much time reading boring ol' study books? :-)
Anyway since then I have read "Ralph's Party" several times, it is one of those comfy books that always make me smile, especially the eating-raw-chilli-competition. Then a few weeks ago I was on a London tube station and I spotted a large poster for a books called "After the Party" by Lisa Jewell. Turns out now there is a sequel to the wonderful "Ralph's Party" and of course I had to get it.

It has been eleven years since Jem and Ralph went home from Ralph's party together. Back then they were sharing a flat with Jem's devious, deceiving boyfriend Smith who was using Jem to make Cheri jealous and now they have a house in South London as well as two kids and lots of issues. Ralph is feeling detached from his small family and Jem is entirely consumed by her wonderful kids, the bright Scarlett with the fierce personality and the little baby Blake who is growing every day. Ralph is struggling to find his painter mojo and though he is making a living as a painter, a good living, he feels that he has lost the love for his art. So in a desperate attempt to find his passion for art, for Jem, for the family, he goes to visit Smith in Los Angeles leaving Jem alone in grey, rainy London with two screaming kids... Alone to go to the playground and meet a nice dad whose daughter is the same age as Scarlett. So while Ralph goes to a Christian concert with the gorgeous Rosey, Jem goes to have tea with soft single dad Joel. And from there it all goes wrong, more than wrong.

I liked it. Not as much as I like "Ralph's Party" but it was a decent sequel. Great to catch up with Jem and Ralph again and to reminisce about that chilli fight. Also I found the discussions about spirituality and Christianity very interesting. Religion is a topic that is rarely dealt with in chick lit but I think that Lisa Jewell did a really good job of showing how Christianity can make a difference in the rushed, modern lives we life.

Read it if: You've read "Ralph's Party" and wondered what happened next or if you want to read a strong chick lit novel about the difficulty of being a modern family striving to have it all and lead the perfect life.

Review: "Special Topics in Calamity Physics"

Let me be honest with you from the very beginning and tell you that "Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl's debut novel, is one of my favourite books. It came recommended from my father whose opinions - on books as well as in general - I have a lot of respect for. So when he handed me his copy of this long book with the beautiful girly cover and the strange title, I knew that I had to read it - the dichotomy of title and cover alone was enough to intrigue me. This was a few years ago and now I re-read it recently and it was just as great as I remembered.

What is this novel about, you ask yourself? The title doesn't really give anything it away - and then maybe it does. But not in the way you expect. Blue van Meer is a motherless American teenager living a life less normal with her professor father who is specialized in development politics and social sciences and who takes up guest positions at three or four different universities a year. Together they travel the country, living as nomads while Gareth, Blue's father, tells her story of her beautiful late mother and fills her head with as much academical knowledge as he can force in there.
Blue is quite a child prodigy or a teenage prodigy, clever for her age, intellectual, with outstanding academic records and few friends. She is the narrator of the story where we follow her and her father as they settle in a new town where Blue is befriended by the mysterious high school teacher Hannah Schneider who has collected a group of talented students around her in a group referred to as The Bluebloods. From the very beginning she is eager for Blue to join their little merry group and though reluctant to do so at first, Blue suddenly has a group of friends though she doesn't exactly fit in with them. She is somewhat scared by the bohemian Leulah, the handsome Charles and the other Bluebloods who all have twisted, strange pasts. Then one day Hannah dies (this is not a spoiler - it is mentioned at the very beginning of the book) and then it all comes tumbling down. It is a story that wants us to reflect on what we actually know about the people that we know, it is about identities and narratives that twist and turn and make it impossible to find the truth.

When it came out "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" it received a lot of really great reviews and some critical ones. Overall though, it was quite popular and I have to say that I love it though it is probably not for everyone. There is not clearcut definition of what this book is in terms of genre - a coming-of-age novel, a crime novel, a mystery. A literary gem if you ask me! There is so much about this book that I love. The fact that the chapters are named after literary milestones such as Othello, the fact that Blue has an enormous knowledge about and love for books and quotes the all the time. The story is amazing and has one of the best and most well-thought-out endings ever.
Most of all, however, I love the characters. The pretentious Gareth who is not really a nice guy and who is definitely selfish and has a huge, inflated ego - his bad sides only remedied by the fact that he has unconditional love for Blue. Blue is, however, easy to love. She is a pretty honest narrator and her voice and story is full of the teenage worries that I think we all know. The "am I good enough?"s, the worry about the future, about boys. She is so clever, intellectually and academically, yet so socially awkward, and I found myself wondering what became of her after the book ended. For me that is one of the best indicators of a successful literary character.

All in all I can only recommend this book - but be aware that it is long and that the last part is unputdownable so reading it in bed when you really should be sleeping is dangerous to your beauty sleep.

Read it if: You love books and like your heroines clever and full of reflections on life. If love conspiracy theories, mysteriousness and a good story.

Review: "Repeat It Today With Tears"

When this one arrived in my mailbox, I was surprised by how slim it was. I am not sure why but I had expected it to be longer. Maybe because the topic is so controversial?

Let me tell you straight away that this book is not for all because it deals with the subject of what is essentially incest in a really strange, really different way. In a sense it takes the same approach to taboo as "Tiger, Tiger" by Margaux Fragoso, as it focuses on the love story aspect, not the abuse aspect, but in my opinion it handles the topic much better than "Tiger, Tiger" does. You can read my "Tiger, Tiger" review here by the way.

The story in "Repeat It Today With Tears" set in the 1970s and it is about a young girl who desperately lacks a father figure in her life. Susanna is a beautiful girl and a clever girl with a real academical flair - it looks like she will be going to a top university and break the social inheritance even though she has to work as well as go to school. She has grown up on a South London estate among drunkards, criminals and teenage mothers and her mother and sister are both very different from her. Her mother has had a tough life and her sister Lin seems to get pregnant a little too easily... For Susanna this is life as she knows it but something very substantial is missing. Susanna misses her father - her mother's boyfriend is no replacement - and though she has never known him, she goes searching for him. And then the drama starts because it is more or less love at first sight. For Susanna, it is an obsession, nothing is as important as the relationship with her new-found father and for her father it seems like he gets a second shot at youth when this young, beautiful girl gives herself to him. He has no idea that it is his daughter.
As their love grows and grows and grows, Susanna at no point feels that it is wrong. All she can feel is the love for the man that she is incredibly aware is her father. As a reader I found it disturbing but at the same time Anne Peile's beautiful writing makes the story come to life in a way so that it is impossible not to care for Susanna.
The second part of the story is strong, incredibly strong. Tears in my eyes strong. But I won't give anything away.

The strength if this book is Anne Peile's beautiful, delicate prose. The words flow from her, giving Susanna a voice and coating the story in a golden light of times gone by. London in the 70's come to life and the love story part is beautiful - so well-written that I kept forgetting the awfulness of the story. The girl who is so starved for fatherly love that when she has the chance to get to know her father, she takes over the role which her mother has once played maybe in a bid to create the happy family life that she has always been denied and create a right where her mother was wrong. It is a deeply disturbing story but beautiful nonetheless.

Read it if you like: London in the 1970's - or if you were disappointed by "Tiger, tiger".

Pride and Prejudice. Love and Hate.

Can't fall asleep so have given myself a fun little challenge - finding Pride and Prejudice covers and reviewing them in one word and one sentence.

CLASSIC
A hardback edition for those of us who read this classic again and again and again.



ENCHANTING
A beautiful cover for a beautiful book


MISUNDERSTOOD
For those who think that Edward Cullen is the modern girl's Mr. Darcy (he is not!)



UNNECESSARY
Wrapping up a classic in a modern jacket to attract a new audience - kind of like if The Rolling Stones had botox in order to perform at the MTV Movie Awards



SACCHARINE
Designed by somebody who has seen the movie but not read the book...




GIRLY
Special edition for girls who closets full of shoes




STRANGE
A great British romance set in a Japanese garden?


Which one is your favourite? I would love the second one but in a hardback edition!

Too many books at once - does it happen to you?

When I visit a bookshop, I am like a kid in a candy store. I want to grab everything and limiting myself to buying just one book - or buying none! - seems impossible. Luckily, I manage though, otherwise my home would be like a library... Lately though, I have been starting to read a lot of books, then losing focus and starting on another one. This really is a terrible habit and cannot be recommended. I will use this post to try and get an overview of which books I am currently reading and hopefully this will stop me from starting on more until I have finished these.
Here we go:

Schooling by Heather McGowan
I have been wanting this book for a long time and now finally got my hands on it. It is the story of 13-year old American girl Catrine who is sent to an English boarding school and it is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that is quite powerful.



Repeat It Today With Tears by Anne Peile
A stunning debut novel set in London in the 1970's where a young girl becomes obsessed with finding the father she has never known. So obsessed that she seduces him.



The Enchantment of Lily Dahl by Siri Hustvedt
A coming of age story about Lily Dahl, a Minnesota waitress and aspiring actress.



Horns by Joe Hill
This one was featured on Amazon's Best Books of March 2010 list and I have heard a lot of good stuff about it. Ignatius William Perrish (love the name!) wakes up after a night that he hardly remembers and have grown horns. And that is not all that has changed about him, people are now telling him those things that they are normally too embarrassed to share with others.



Now that I have summed it up, it doesn't seem so bad. I was sure that there were more on this list. Wonder if I have left any out...
What are you reading at the moment?

Review: "Passion"

So now the time has come to review "Passion", the third book in the series about the eternal love of Daniel and Luce which is written by Lauren Kate (btw. such a cool name for an author!). The first books "Fallen" and "Torment" had something. I loved the black school uniform in book one and the graveyard and the firsts meetings between Cam and Luce. "Torment" was good as well, it had something. The last scenes were powerful and that leads me nicely to "Passion" which starts where "Torment" began. However, the plot of this one is quite different and if you are a huge Lauren Kate fan, then please forgive me for this review. I am going to be honest (because otherwise what's the point?) and it is not really going to be nice...

The plot is ridiculous. At best. The idea is actually good but the actual story is not only unimpressive, it is downright awful. In order to understand the eternal love of Daniel and Luce and the curse that means that Luce dies whenever their love becomes to passionate, Luce travels through time. Literally. She uses the announcers to travel through her past lives and observe or even take part in her past lives and what lives, she has led... And boy has she led some interesting lives. She seems to have been in all the right places on the right times, at least in a historical context. Thinking about this in a reasonable way, one would assume that she had had maybe one exciting life and a lot of normal lives outside of the main historical events. Not so Luce. She was lady of the manor in Victorian England, a friend of Shakespeare and the reason for the fire of the Globe Theater, a slave at the court of Pharaoh, a Chinese king's fiancee, a Princess of Savoy at the court of the Sun King... She has experienced quite a bit! And I can see why otherwise this plot may have become boring quite fast because Kate doesn't take the time to really explore any of these lives, instead she seems to try to fit as many past lives into one book as possible. And feature the devil as well plus a strange dialogue featuring God... Have to say I don't like it. At all.

If you loved "Fallen" and "Torment" please don't get your expectations up... If you loved films such as "Shakespeare in Love", "Mulan" and "The English Patient" then you might like it because the author seems to have borrowed a bit from these and other movies. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, except that she has not done it in a very elegant way and that rather annoys me. Honestly, this book seemed to me as if it had been written in a hurry and that's really too bad. I hope that the next book, "Rapture", will be better because even though I was less than impressed with "Passion", I still have to find out what happens to Luce and Daniel.

I wish it was a book!

Right so I've written a couple of posts about books that have been made into films - but there are also a bunch of films that I really really wish was based on books. And maybe they are and I just haven't noticed. Anyway. There are quite a few films that I would love to read:



Juno. Script written by the cool, clever, imaginative and brave Diablo Cody who is never afraid of tackling difficult issues (teenage pregnancy in Juno, mental illness in United States of Tara). Would love to have her over for dinner and talk to her about screenwriting.



Adventureland Starring a rather cute guy and Twilight-girl Kristen Stewart this is a far cry from sparkling, moody vampires. This is all about a rich kid whose parents go bankrupt forcing him to work at the local adventureland (read: freak show) during his summer vacation. It would work really well as a coming-of-age book, I think.



Easy Virtue with Colin Flirt and Jessica Biel. I've mentioned this one before. It is set in the thirties and full of bright young things and fantastic music. The story of an English aristocrat who marries an American nobody to the extreme displeasure of his mother. It would be a classic - reminds me of "The Edwardians" by Vita Sackville-West.

Pictures from a day in the garden

Time has flown and I have been busy - and that is my absolutely only excuse for not having blogged for a looooong time.

What have I been doing you ask? Well a whole lot really. Lots of traveling - a few days here, a few days there. Reading in airports, on planes and at night. But now I'm back and ready to review and write and read all of you wonderful blogs.

However, this post will be a short one but I will share some pictures with you. A month ago I had an absolutely wonderful time lying in my parents' garden for an entire day reading, talking to my cat and enjoying the sunshine and just being perfectly happy (apart from my leg being all busted up and my mind being slowed by painkillers). Have a sunshiny day people :-)

Review: "Notting Hell"

Normally I don't read a lot of chick lit but since I have been spending a lot of time lying around eating pain killers and trying not to use my newly operated foot, I have had plenty of time to read but not having the energy to read anything too heavy. So I settled down with Rachel Johnson's "Notting Hell", a comedy about the self-obsessed, vain people living on a communal garden in Notting Hill. Rachel Johnson is the editor of the "Lady" magazine and from her bio on Wikipedia and articles in various media, she sounds like a lady who knows about the people that she is writing about in this novel.

The real main character in "Notting Hell" is actually the Notting Hill neighborhood. Now I've never lived here myself but according to this book, the neighborhood is defined by bankers and other professionals that leave early in the morning and return home to sleep and their high-maintenance wives who spend their days lunching (on something fat-free), exercising and shopping - and of course on raising their accomplished children. Sounds horrible doesn't it? Well, just wait till you read this book, I was so repulse by the people in it... especially the narrators of which there are two.

Meet Mimi. Mother of three, wife of Ralph (who btw. sounds pretty amazing) and dumber than a box-full-of-rocks. Living in Notting Hill defines her identity and justifies her entire life even though she and her sweet husband are living way beyond their means to stay in the attractive post code. Mimi is friends with Clare, her neighbor and the other narrator of this story. Clare is a neat-freak who loves gardening and who really wants a child but apparently cannot become pregnant. She is married to a successful ecotect (i.e. a fancy and expensive architect) and spends her days in the communal garden taking care of the flowers. Clare is a lot easier to like than Mimi even though she is a bit snobbish.

Mimi and Clare tell the story of life on a communal garden where everyone sleeps with everyone else's wife/husband and where a race to ensare the new millionaire in the garden means that the women all get their claws out. Charming. Or maybe not.

Now the people in this book are really not likeable. Mimi made me cringe and at times I wish she wasn't a narrator because it was impossible for me to like her. Clare is okay though and Mimi's husband is a sweetheart but most of the other characters range from slightly annoying to outright idiots. The plot and the descriptions of the neighborhood is hilarious though. It is the details that make it so funny, the try-hard attitude of minor characters and the constant greed that all of the characters represent. It is actually a really funny book and if you like chick lit where the characters are not very likeable, you will probably like this on.

Read it if: you subscribe to "Tatler", "Vanity Fair" or you enjoy reading the Times Rich List and imagining what goes on behind closed doors.

Review: "The Passage"

I am not really sure what made me pick up "The Passage" by Justin Cronin - but to be honest I was probably giving in the to hype and thought I would give it a go just to see... And how here comes the review which is full of SPOILERS. I don't think I would be able to writing anything meaningful about this book if I didn't include SPOILERS so consider yourself warned.

What initially struck me about this book was two things: 1) It's size. It is really long. 2) The cover which I find absolutely beautiful.
Then I opened the book and started reading and those two initial impressions faded into the background.
The story opens a year or two from now and at first we follow several strands. The young mother who has to become a prostitute to be able to provide a meal and a roof for her little daughter Amy. The death row prisoner who gets an offer he can't refuse from an FBI agent who may have a hidden agenda. The FBI agent who is on a mission that he doesn't really understand but who is so emotionally messed up by losing his child that he doesn't care what the mission is about. Until the mission suddenly includes handing over Amy to an unknown fate and his paternal feelings come crashing over him.
This first part of the story, I really enjoyed. I loved the thrill of not knowing what is going on but having that ominous feeling that there is more to the story... The FBI agent Wolgast is a really good character with lots of depth and I really felt for him and looked forward to following his ride through the book - that was not to be however... Because really, this is all about Amy.

After about 200 pages the plot turns from a mystery thriller about taking responsibility for your actions to a whole different kettle of fish. From one page to the next - and this is where the SPOILER comes - the entire population of America (and possibly of the earth) has been wiped out by an attack of vampire zombies. I kid you not. Vampire zombies... As if the sparkling variety wasn't bad enough, now we have the superpowered, crazy zombie variety as well.
At this point I seriously considered closing the book and leaving it at that but I was in the garden at my parents place and still trying to get back on both feet after my operation so I had nothing else to do.
The story is impossible to really summarize from here but in a few words, this is what happens: A group of about 100 survivors has made a colony in the Californian mountains and there they have lived since the first epidemic. A hundred years have passed and a new world order is prevalent. The story follows a group of these people who set up to get a better understanding of what happen to the world of their forefathers and whether there are other humans out there who have managed to survive. All why they try and understand who the girl Amy is - a strange tween/teen who has suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

I don't know what to say. I am really really not into sci-fi, doomsday, end-of-the-world stories and suddenly I found myself reading one, rather unwillingly. Being honest, I would have put this book down if it wasn't because it is actually rather well-written. Great characters that you really empathize with and that come alive. Great descriptions of a world where all life as we know it has disappeared. Very Stephen King-ish. Will I read the next two books in what is planned to be a trilogy? Well, never say never but I really don't think so.

Read it if: You love Stephen King and think that "28 Days Later" is a great movie. Or if you would read anything featuring a vampire.

Review: "Cousin Kate"

Georgette Heyer is where I go to look for comforting reads that allow me to escape into a regency world full of bustling gowns, silver snuff boxes and really delicious gentlemen... You know what I mean girls ;-)
So when I had to spend two weeks doing nothing due to an operation in my left leg (almost at the end of the two weeks now), I turned to Georgette Heyer for a bit of a regency romp. Usually I have very clear expectations of what I will get from a Heyer book and they always live up to my expectation. Always until this time that is... Because Georgette Heyer's "Cousin Kate" certainly did not.

The story line is this: young Kate is all alone in the world and has not a penny to her name. So she goes to stay with her old nanny Sarah who is now married to a tradesmen. Sarah contacts Kate's family and soon Kate is swept away to live in the imposing and impressive country home of her aunt Lady Minerva. It is by no means a homey place - more of a museum - and the family is as dysfuntional as they get. Kate spends her time with her cousin Torquil who is more than a little strange, and Phillip, who doesn't seem to like her at all. And all the time Lady Minerva is acting strangely.

This is actually more of a mystery than a romance which I didn't particularly appreciate. I prefer the London balls and Bath tangles to a country house who-did-it. Also what I so adore about Georgette Heyer is her strong heroines. They are normally really strong with lots of common sense and little romantic notions but Kate doesn't really have that. Yes she is practical and no-nonsense but she is also naive and not particularly bright and she annoyed me at times.

Read it if: You are on a quest to read everything Georgette Heyer ever wrote. If you are looking for a regency romance of great quality, go for Georgette Heyer's "Frederica".

Top Ten Tuesday: Superb Settings

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish and I love participating in it!!
This week's theme is favorite book settings - something that is not appreciate as much as it should be, if you ask me. So here we go:

10) Avalon - from "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Enchanting and full of magic

9) Italy - as portrayed in "Jamie Oliver's Italy". I know featuring a cook book is a bit different but the Italy Jamie Oliver's describes using words and pictures is so yummy that I had to :-)

8) Bon Temps and the rest of Sookie's Louisiana - from the True Blood series by Charlaine Harris. I have never been but it is on my list of places to see.

7) Brick Lane - from "Salaam Brick Lane" by Tarquin Hall. Brick Lane is one of the best streets in London. So full of life and adventures. And "Salaam Brick Lane" tells the story in a way that leaves you wanting more Brick Lane.

6) Avonlea - from "Anne of Green Gables" by L. M. Montgomery. When I was a kid I really wanted to go there on vacation and I still do actually. The descriptions from the books make it sounds like the most idyllic, beautiful little village, I so want to visit to Prince Edward Island.

5) Forks - from "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. I have actually been to Forks and holidayed at La Push and let me tell you, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Not Forks - La Push is. The nature is so raw and strong. Also I think the setting is one of the redeeming features of the book.

4) The underbelly of London - from "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman. I love it that the area names are actually used. An earl lives in the Earl's Court etc. It is such an imaginative way of using geography.

3) Andalucia - from "Driving over Lemons" by Chris Stewart. I've read this book four times just to enjoy imagining the Andalucia described by the author.

2) Siena - from "Love Falls" by Esther Freud. Siena is such a beautiful place. I have been there and in the surrounding area on vacation and you have to see it if you go to Italy. It is amazing. Really amazing. And "Love Falls" is a great book by the way.

1) Hogwarts - magical!!! I wish that I had created the world of Hogwarts. It is the most astonishing, wonderful fictional setting ever.

Review: "My Last Duchess"

Now I haven't watched the much raved about series Downton Abbey but according to several reviews "My Last Duchess" by Daisy Goodwin resembles the tone and topics of the series - and having just devoured the book, I have now ordered the tv series and am looking forward to feasting on upstairs and below-stairs drama. Just as in "My Last Duchess". If you enjoy books set in England back when it was still an empire and when a woman was a lady and a man was a gentleman then you really must read this one. It is a literary edition of a Georgette Heyer story, a romantic historical novel and very much reminded me of films like "Gosford Park" and "Easy Virtue".

Cora Cash (what an appropriate last name...) is one the richest heiresses in the United States and the daughter of what must be one of the most fiercely ambitious mothers in the world. Not content with being just a society lady, she has her eyes set on being the mother of a titled lady. Which means that she is ready to sell her daughter to the highest bidder in terms of social capital. So with this objective in mind, Cora and her mother travels to England in the hope of being able to buy there way into the choicest social circles. Preferably royal connections - or at least a duke. It is hard to say more without revealing too much and as I really do not like spoilers in my reviews.
Let me say though that Cora and her mother probably get more than they bargained for because the English society is by no means ready to be bought by what they perceive as vulgar, brassy americans... Cora, a spirited young woman, has to watch her every step and even then she sometimes stumble in the undergrowth of unsaid and unwritten rules. At the same time, the reader also follows the life of Cora's loyal and loving maid as she follows her mistress to a country very far away from the Southern state that she grew up in and where the rules below stairs are as difficult as the rules in the drawing and ball rooms.

I loved the fact that Cora is so spirited. Yes she is somewhat naive and yes she does let her mother push her around a bit but in general, she is a strong young woman. She is determined not to be bullied by what she perceives as antiquated English manners and opinions and she carries her American heritage with pride. Warming to her was easy for me - just I felt the same degree of loath for her mother (and mother-in-law) as I feel for Lady Catherine de Bourgh... if you know what I mean.

This is a lovely book, it is a great escape into a different time and as a romance it works really well without becoming too much.

Read it if: You like historical romances where the Old World meets the New World - where old families meet new money. Read if if you were enchanted by the fairy tale of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Downton Abbey, Gosford Park.

I am Elizabeth Bennett!

I need to share!! :-) Just took the "Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?" Quiz.
And I am Lizzy Bennett! Very happy with the results, was rather sure I would end up as one of the Dashwoods, though not sure why. And I really like both the Dashwood girls but I LOVE Lizzy. Made my evening.

Take the Quiz here!

Willa wants to Read... The book behind the film

So I've seen the film (not knowing that there was a book behind it) and now I want to read the book because as we all know: usually the book is much better than the film :-)

Which books-made-into-films can you recommend?

"Whip It" by Shauna Cross
The film starring Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore (who is also the director) is full of great girlpower girls who rollerskates in derbys that are something of a rollerskating meets fight club thing. Full of cool clothes, great music and fun moments! I have already seen it twice and I absolutely have to read the book.
From amazon.com: Meet Bliss Cavendar, an indie-rock-loving misfit stuck in the tiny town of Bodeen, Texas. Her pageant-addicted mother expects her to compete for the coveted Miss Bluebonnet crown, but Bliss would rather feast on roaches than be subjected to such rhinestone tyranny. Bliss’s escape? Roller Derby. When she discovers a league in nearby Austin, Bliss embarks on an epic journey full of hilarious tattooed girls, delicious boys in bands, and a few not-so-awesome realities even the most hard-core derby chick has to learn.

"The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis
I know, I know... I really should have read this one before watching the movie. Sorry.
From amazon.com: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated to a house during the war wherein lives a vague professor. Left much to their own devices, they find a way into another world - Narnia - and discover Aslan, the lion king in hiding.

"Thank You for Smoking" by Christopher Buckley
Great movie - heard the book is fun. From amazon.com: "Nick Naylor had been called most things since becoming chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, but until now no one had actually compared him to Satan." So begins the adventures of this protagonist, a shamelessly slimy yuppie and PR flack par excellence for the tobacco industry. The story, such as it is, consists of Naylor's attempts to prop up his failing corporate star by expanding his defense of the evil weed. Working the airwaves, he engineers successful, hysterical appearances on Oprah and Larry King , after which he's kidnapped by anti-tobacco terrorists who attempt to murder him by plastering his body with nicotine patches.