review

The Enchanted April – Elizabeth von Arnim

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cover162045Last June my friend and I took a much anticipated trip to Rome and Florence. We met as au-pairs in Milan about five years ago and try to get back to our favourite country as often as we can. The night I got back from our holiday, I felt the post Italian blues so strongly, that I desperately searched around for films, books, food, anything! that would transport me back to the wonderful country that I love so much. I was so lucky to find The Enchanted April. The dreary, grey and depressing London in the first part of the book expressed perfectly how I felt about being back.

Four women, all strangers, put their money together to escape their unsatisfying London lives for the month of April. They are all very different characters who are unhappy or unsatisfied in some way; excitable Mrs Wilkins, kindhearted Mrs Arbuthnot, grumpy Mrs Fisher and the beautiful Lady Catherine.  Continue reading →

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan

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9780141346809I bought this for my younger brother as a present but was so intrigued to see how Riordan would bring the Greek Gods into the modern day, that I decided to give it a go myself.

At first I quite enjoyed the writing style and pace of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Riordan gets straight to the point, with the first chapter being named “I accidentally vaporize my pre-algebra teacher” (who hasn’t wanted to do that at some point in their school lives?)

There’s no faffing about, it’s all in-your-face-action with an easy going, humorous narrative from Percy himself. With his natural way of speaking and everyday problems (on top of the extraordinary problems you get from having a God for a father), I imagine kids can relate to Percy.  Continue reading →

Desert Flower – Waris Dirie

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Desert Flower Waris DirieI first heard about Waris Dirie on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. From nomad to supermodel, Bond Girl to human rights campaigner, her story made me stop what I was doing, sit down and listen in disbelief.

The book opens in her home country, Somalia. Her upbringing there was about as different from mine as you can get. She lived a very simple, but hard life in the desert with her mother, father and siblings. Waris loved parts of her childhood, especially her family and the way of life; always on the move to find water, looking after the animals and caring for her younger siblings. However, there were certain things that she did not understand and her rebelliousness sometimes got her into trouble. The final straw came when, while still only a child, her father tried to force her into a marriage with a much older man. To escape this unwanted match, Waris decided to run away from home. She always had a feeling that she was destined to have a different life. And she was right. Continue reading →

The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

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AchillesEven with all the hype surrounding Madeline Miller’s debut novel, I was sure that I would not be disappointed when I read The Song of Achilles. And I’m relieved to say that I wasn’t!

As I mentioned in my post about Roger Lancelyn Green’s Tales of the Greek Heroes, I only have a vague knowledge of the Greek myths. So I opened The Song of Achilles not really knowing what to expect.

The book is narrated by Patroclus, an unlucky young prince who is banished by his own father to live in the court of King Peleus and his brilliant son Achilles. Achilles is a demigod destined to grow up to be a hero, and at first Patroclus resents him. Why couldn’t he be as perfect as Achilles? His resentment leads to a confused admiration, friendship and eventually the two become lovers. Continue reading →

Black Hearts in Battersea – Joan Aiken

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Black Hearts in BatterseaAs promised in my recent post about The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, I have re-read the next book in the series.

Black Hearts in Battersea follows kind-hearted Simon, the goose boy from the previous book. When he arrives in London to enrol at an art school, he finds that his friend Dr Field is missing. His new home, where Dr Field is supposed to be living, smells oddly of the doctor’s paints, but otherwise there is no trace of him, and the landlords swear that they have never even heard of him. There’s something fishy about the landlords. The Twites are a fantastic family; they are loud and dirty, rude and untrustworthy and Simon is sure that they have something to do with Dr Field’s disappearance. That doesn’t stop him from making friends with the youngest Twite, Dido.

Continue reading →

Sold – Patricia McCormick

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sold PM I bought Sold from Pilgrims Book House in Kathmandu for my 24 hour journey back home. I started the book in a courtyard café, where we planned to spend the day before catching our flight in the afternoon. I finished it on the first flight that evening.

Sold is simply, but poetically written and extremely absorbing which is why it took me no time at all to read. However, the topics it covers are by no means easy. Twelve year old Lakshmi lives with her mother, baby brother and step father in a small village in Nepal.

It is a simple life with lots of difficulties, but she is much loved by her mother and together, they find joys in the smaller things in life, when they can get it. Continue reading →

Pilgrims Book House – Kathmandu

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It’s hard to believe that this time last week I was in Nepal. Before we arrived in Kathmandu, where we would spend the beginning and end of our holiday, I dutifully researched bookshops. It seemed like if you were going to visit one bookshop in Kathmandu, it should be Pilgrims Book House.

After hearing all about Pilgrims, I was so excited to visit it. It’s been called an ‘Aladdin’s cave’ with a ‘maze of rooms filled from floor to ceiling with books’. Now who wouldn’t want to get lost in that? I also read that there was a nice café, where I was planning to enjoy breakfast before disappearing between the shelves. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the address written in the Lonely Planet travel guide, this is what I found…

Old Pilgrims Continue reading →

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken

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the wolves of willoughby chaseI was ill a few weeks ago and couldn’t concentrate on my current book, so picked up this old favourite of mine from my childhood instead.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is packed with all of the right ingredients to make a smashing children’s adventure. When Sir Willoughby and his wife leave for a long trip abroad, they arrange for their daughter and niece to be looked after by a distant relative, the perfectly named Miss Slighcarp. With a name like that, it’s no surprise when the stern governess turns out to be a villainous and scheming woman with a plot to steal all of Sir Willoughby’s money. The two girls, Bonnie and Sylvia suffer much cruelty at the hands of their ghastly governess and later in a nearby orphanage workhouse. However, the girls are resourceful and with the help of Simon, a goose boy who lives in the woods, they plan their escape.  Continue reading →

The Music Room – William Fiennes

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The Music Room

When I was younger, I remember wishing desperately that I lived in a castle like Cassandra from I Capture the Castle. All those wishes flooded back to me when I read The Music Room. Although very different from the dreamy diary of a teenage girl, this book still made me think about how wonderful it would have been to grow up in a seven hundred year old moated castle.

Fiennes’ memoir is a gentle reflection of life growing up in a castle, with the odd disturbances from an older brother who suffers from severe epilepsy. Continue reading →

The History of Love – Nicole Krauss

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The History of Love

I won this book in a competition – Thanks Ragdoll Books! (Make sure you check out her blog, it’s great!) When Jennifer at Ragdoll Books wrote that The History of Love was up there with her favourite books of the year – if not all time, I was very excited to get a copy! You can read her review here.

But was Nicole Krauss’ book up there with my favourite books? I’m afraid not. In fact, I found it a bit of a disappointment. I really hate it when I don’t get on with a book that other people absolutely love, especially when the recommendation comes from a trusted someone with good taste in books!

I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, from almost the very start, The History of Love was not for me. Continue reading →