Throwback to Kenya

For my high-school years I had the opportunity to live in Nairobi, Kenya. So, reading this novel, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, was quite the experience. It was great to have such a concrete visual in my mind of all the places mentioned in the book. They would go to Naivasha, and in my head, 'Oh! I've been there,' and the Muthaiga Club, 'Oh, that's where we had our senior prom.' To say the least, I really enjoyed reading this book.

Set in Nairobi, Kenya, is this unexpected love story told through the eyes of a birdwatcher. Drayson tells the tale of two rivals, Mr. Malik and Harry Khan, who in competing for the opportunity to ask the leader of the Tuesday-morning bird walk, Rose Mbikwa, to the annual Hunt Ball commence in this week long bird watch. Following each man's successes and downfalls, Drayson creates a story emphasising politics, love and friendship.

Nicholas Drayson's A Guide to the Birds of East Africa is an essential for anyone who has ever been to Kenya. The prose is excellent and the description of Nairobi's pros and cons is expertly translated into the written word. I would recommend this novel to anyone but at the same time, having lived in Kenya, you would get so much more out of it if you had already been to Nairobi.

Thumbs up.

Nicholas Drayson
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa: A Novel
Penguin Viking, 2008
202pp. £11.99
ISBN 9780670917587

Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So much potential but disappointing.



The concept was great, however, when I finished the book it felt like I had read only the first chapter. The story had only just begun. I wanted to read more but I don’t want to have to go out and buy the next six books. It seems like a waste of trees. If the first book had continued on into the second and third books, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more because the story would feel a lot more complete. As it is, it’s just too short. Unfinished.



On the back it says, “An ALA Best Book for Young Adults,” but if I gave this book to one of my peers they would hunt me down like a shadow child on the run from the population police. It felt more like a TV episode than a novel. Maybe, that’s the problem, it’s being considered a Young Adult novel and I think this is more something I would give to kid as his first chapter book.

I might read the next one but only because I’m curious as to how Haddix fixes it.

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Currently Devouring:   Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Next on the Menu:   The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (I think it is about time I got on that boat)

Just Ate:   Among the Hidden, by Margeret Haddix but unsure whether or not to write a review on that one...

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I actually didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would.

Usually I can read children’s books and be quite satisfied once I’m finished but this one just didn’t do it for me. The character’s goals were all noble but they all narrated every single step they made, Dorothy was too much of an annoying little girl, and there wasn’t as much literary depth as I wanted the book to have.

I thought it was decent and I understand that is supposed to be children’s fiction but if people rewrote books the same way we remake movies, this would be one of the rare few books I would like to see rewritten.

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My Name is Asher Lev

My Name is Asher Lev was beautiful.

I was required to read this novel for my creative writing class in my first year at university. I had never heard of it before, or the author, and my professor was an interesting character so I was a little worried when ordering it on Amazon.

When I finally got it in the mail, I left it on my bed and one of friends saw it. She quickly exclaimed that it was one of the best books she had ever read. So a little curious I began to read it.

Being a bookeater and a total art nerd, I fell in love with the Potok’s novel quickly. He beautifully explained the clash between cultures, and the struggle of doing what you love versus becoming who your parents expect you to be without writing it like the cliché discovering who you are self-help book.

I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who’s looking for stunningly good read.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I think it is safe to say that Atticus Finch is one of my favourite literary characters ever to exist. Scout and Jem are excellent characters as well. It’s a pity Harper Lee never wrote anything more.

My nomadic lifestyle meant that I missed out on a lot of typical middle/high school reads, this being one of them. Coming home this summer I decided it was time to get off my butt (or rather sit down) and read all of the classics waiting on my mother’s bookshelf. To Kill a Mockingbird was one of those long awaited reads.

I have to say that it isn’t my favourite novel of all time but it was definitely worth the read. Lee’s commentary on racism and inequality is obvious but not glaring or offensive in any way. It’s the perfect representation of how she thinks man should act towards his fellow men, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The entire time I read this collection of short stories I just kept relating it to the Disney film. (Oh, they included that. Wait, why didn’t they elaborate on that more?) Which, I admit, is kind of sad but I now understand why Disney thought it a good idea to turn the fables into a film. Kipling’s tales all teach a moral at the end, something I think is waning in current children literature. It was nice to read a children’s story with a point.



The collection is best-known for its ‘Mowgli’ stories but to be honest my favourite was the story of The White Seal. It was beautifully written and was more about protecting yourself than the open war that Mowgli’s relationship with Shere Khan seems to suggest.



The poems and songs were great and would be highly entertaining to read aloud to little kids.



Anyone with kids should definitely read this to their children at some point. There’s a reason it’s a classic.

Rudyard Kipling
The Jungle Book
Collins Classics, this edition published 2010 (first published 1894)
212pp. $3.00
ISBN 9780007350858

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The Turn of the Screw

The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this one long to read but I’m glad I read it. Tricky thing is that when it was written people typically used that kind of vocabulary. So even though it wasn’t the author’s intent, it’s interesting to use the novel as an example of how quickly the English language changes and develops.



I enjoy horror novels so, in general, I liked it. I’m not recommending it but I’m not not recommending it either. It’s one of those books that you just have to want to read. It’s a must read if you claim to be a horror fan but it’s not crucial to the atypical reader’s literary vocabulary.

Henry James
The Turn of the Screw
Collins Classics, this edition published 2011
180pp. $1.41
9780007420285

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1984

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know it took me long enough to read this classic but I’m glad I didn’t read it until now. If I had of read the novel in high school, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as much out of it considering how much the Newspeak forces you to pay more attention while reading it.

1984, by George Orwell, could potentially become a prediction of sorts but for the time being the futuristic dystopia novel tells the almost tragic tale of Winston Smith as he flounders in the clash between love and politics. The quote, “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past,” is emphasised in this novel as the main driving force behind the society that Winston struggles to accept as imperative.


1984 lives up to its reputation and is an exciting read. However, it does make me worry about where our societies are headed. This novel is worthy of its status in the literary world and I think you could get more out of it each and every time you read it. It’s a pity that the author died before seeing how much of a success his work would become.



Definitely a book you need to keep on your bookshelf.

George Orwell
1984
Penguin Books, 1989 (first published 1949)
336pp. £5.99
ISBN 014027877X

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I love Mitch Albom.

I may have only read two of his books so far but I love the way he writes. It's so simple and to the point and just smooth to read. I think the thing I love most about Albom's writing is that it is incredibly fast to read but it never forgets any important details.

I stumbled across The Five People You Meet in Heaven on my parent's bookshelf and was surprised that they had it. Having read The Time Keeper and loved it, I immediately began reading this one. Now, I didn't enjoy the story in The Five People You Meet in Heaven as much as in The Time Keeper but it was still absolutely beautiful.

Albom writes a fascinating take on the afterlife and how important our interactions with other people are, even the interactions we don't realise are happening or happened. His novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, is about, put simply, a man who dies. Once Eddie, the protagonist, is dead he meets five different unpredictable people who talk him through and explain the events in his life and why they happened the way they did.

Not something I would read to my little sister until she's old enough to understand the beauty of Albom's writing but give the novel to anyone high-school aged and older and I think they would really enjoy it.

Mitch Albom
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Time Warner Paperbacks, 2003
208pp. $11.19
ISBN 0751536822

escaped to and now emerging from my fictional world...

So, my apologies for being an awful blogger.

Sometimes, life is great and sometimes it sucks. And when it sucks, I tend to disappear into my books but ignore the urge the write about them. So, I haven't been writing much recently but the good news is that I have a whole pile of books that I've read recently to write about.

Feel free to argue with me if you think my reviews are bogus. I just like reading and then sharing my thoughts with you and sometimes I'm wrong about a book. Sometimes I don't know enough about it except for what I've gathered from reading it once over and I love a good book discussion.

A lot of my reviews now are posted through my Goodreads account, just because it's simpler. Plus, no one really knows about this blog. I'd rather share my thoughts with total strangers than my friends and neighbours.

If you have a book recommendation, I would love to hear it.

So, eat those books.

Surprised by Skellig

Skellig by David Almond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Despite being initially written for younger audiences Skellig, by David Almond, was fascinating. It could easily become, no it has become, one of those books that any person can pick up and still enjoy no matter their age.



My mother (who is an English teacher) recommended it to me a year or two ago, when I was still living in her house but life got in the way and unfortunately it took me until now to actually pick it up and read it. I was visiting home for the summer and it was sitting on our bookshelf waiting to be read so, having nothing better to do I decided it was time to listen to my mother’s recommendation and read the damn book. I hadn’t heard anything about the novel besides my mum’s praise and I knew it was middle-school fiction so I wasn’t expecting much to begin with. However, when I began reading the novel I was pleasantly surprised. Almond’s storyline has the potential to be this great epically long novel and there was a part of me that wished it had been written in a lengthier format but at the same time I’m glad he wrote it so short and sweet. It’s the kind of book that I can read to my youngest sister and she would enjoy it but I could also lend it to one of my college party-crazed peers and they would enjoy it just as much, if not more.

Skellig is the inspirational tale of a young boy who finds hope again in the least suspecting place. “Can love help a person to get better?” is one the many underlying themes that really distinguishes the novel from the typical children’s book. Even though Skellig is written for a younger age bracket brace yourselves for sincerely serious subjects. Almond writes about love, pain and death but he does it in such a way that makes the difficult themes comprehensible for the young age of his target audience.



Overall, I liked it. It was refreshing to read a middle school novel that wasn’t some paranormal romance but I probably won't read the rest of the series. I'm afraid that will ruin it for me. Skellig should be a stand alone novel. Adding/reading sequels would just kill the innovativeness of this first novel.



A must-read for any middle-schooler. Or anyone for that matter.

David Almond

Skellig
London: Hodder Children’s Books, 1998
176pp. $6.29 (Amazon Paperback)
ISBN 9780340944950

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Confused by Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, this book. Was kind of weird. But cool too.

The Catcher in the Rye is an interesting journal-like novel from the perspective of a pessimistic 16-year-old boy living in New York City. Having just been expelled from boarding school, the novel recounts the misadventures of Holden Caulfield as he procrastinates returning home.



I enjoyed this book but I don’t know if it deserves all the merit and status that the American market seems to give it. The book hooks the reader remarkably well and it reads fast but by the time I got to the end of it, it seemed pointless. There was no rising action, no climax, it was just the everyday (a little questionable) life of the protagonist, Holden, and then it just ended without any resolution. Which I get was the point because the novel complains a lot about how fake movies and their story-lines are. So I love Salinger for that, for standing his ground and for writing his novel to match the arguments presented in it. However at the same time, I wanted something to happen. I wanted a story. And, frankly, the protagonist complained too much which made the novel kind of depressing. If he wasn’t such a sweetheart at the same time, I probably wouldn’t have given the book even a three-star rating.



So, I enjoyed it solely because the writing was pretty. If the quality of the writing had of been anything less I would have been disappointed by the end of it. 


I do recommend reading it at least once in your lifetime, however, I doubt that I will ever be compelled to read it a second time unless I’m feeling confused and feel the need to know and understand the reasons the American market regards the novel as a classic. Maybe, I just need an English professor to explain to me why they love it so much.

J.D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye
Penguin Books, 1951
192pp. $5.24
ISBN 9780140237504

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