_The Gods of Guilt (Lincoln Lawyer)_ by Michael Connelly

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Feb 022014
 

Gods Of Guilt

_The Gods of Guilt (Lincoln Lawyer)_ by Michael Connelly

This is the second book in brief that I did for my freelance work. Remember that movie, “The Lincoln Lawyer” with MatthewΒ McConaughey? Well, this is another story with the same character.

To be honest, I was pretty appalled at the quality of this book, but it was an easy read and made me some money. πŸ˜‰ The Gods of Guilt are considered to be the jurors and the lawyer, Mick Haller, comes to realize the power of the jury as he works a trial.

I cannot even remember the main bit of the story since it has now been several weeks since I read it…. Is that sad? Or, perhaps just a statement towards the quality.

The brief will be out soon, I think, but honestly, you don’t need a brief version of this…It’s a fast, mindless read anyway. Sorry, Michael Connelly! πŸ™

-T πŸ˜€

_I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban_ by Malala Yousafzai

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Jan 232014
 

I am Malala

_I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban_ by Malala Yousafzai

Some months back, my friend P asked me if I had heard about this girl in Pakistan who had been shot and then taken to the UK for treatment. I had no idea, of course, given that I pay almost no attention to the news.

P continued to follow the story, but I had somewhat forgotten about it.

Then, I was watching on FB, the main source of my news and saw a video posted fromΒ The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

I was so impressed by her story that I decided to read the book.

Although it is not written with high literary technique, it does tell a very fascinating story. In fact, it made me reconsider the idea of going to Afghanistan or even Pakistan to teach. (That has passed, by the way!) It was a rather quick and easy read, but so amazing to hear about how there are so many pockets of the world that still are so corrupt and ridiculous. How can men desire power so much at the expense of a country or a generation of women who desire to be educated? What amazing fear these men must have towards women and the power of education.

I’m also impressed at Malala’s maturity and desire to change her country. It must be quite a contrast for her and her family to now be living in a world of modernity and access to everything except what she desires most – her homeland….

So, I recommend it and am glad that something from the news entered into my world positively. πŸ™‚

-T πŸ˜€

_A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle)_ by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Jan 212014
 

A Wizard of EarthSea

_A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle)_ by Ursula K. Le Guin

Back in the days of L, I first heard of Ursula Le Guin. I had never heard the name before although she is apparently well-known amongst young adult readers. It must have been in a time that by-passed me….

Since I do occasionally like a fantasy novel, I put her on my someday reading list. Then, recently a colleague was talking about one of the books in her series that he really likes. So, I heard the name again. Thus, when I found myself a few months back with nothing interesting to read, I decided to start her Earthsea series.

This is the first one.

It was definitely written for a young adult audience and it might even be fair to say the male young adult, nerdy-type. However, it was still an engaging read and not at all like the Harry Potter series, which I think is good. It was written in the late 1960’s, the next two in the early 70’s and the last two in late 90’s to early 2000’s, with a total of five books in the series.

So, with the first one it is clear it is a different time just by the simplicity of the character’s life. He struggled with his inner battle between the good and the bad. It was a personal struggle. However, I am curious to see how the tone might change in the latter books.

I am not in a particular rush to read the next ones, but I imagine that I will get through them eventually. πŸ˜€

-T

_Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption_ by Laura Hillenbrand

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Jan 212014
 

Unbroken

_Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption_ by Laura Hillenbrand

Somehow this book got lost in my reading posts, which is funny because it came back into my life after having read a while ago.

Laura Hillenbrand tells a biographical tale of Louis Zamperini, an Italian American from California who becomes an Olympic miler and goes off to the war in the Pacific. It is almost impossible to believe that one man could have survived everything Zamperini did, but that’s why it becomes a story worth telling.

For a non-fiction story, this is a captivating read especially if you like war stories and survival.

Strangely, after I read it (I don’t even know how long ago), I started a freelance writing job that requires books to be rewritten in brief form. So, to avoid copyright issues, about 25% of the book is summarized for quick reads. My first assignment was this book, which was great because I had already read it despite its hefty length.

Now, my summary – Book Brief – is in print (digitally). Here’s a link if you want to read the book in a shortened form. πŸ˜€

_World Without End_ by Ken Follett

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Oct 012013
 

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_World Without End_ by Ken Follett

This is the second novel following _Pillars of the Earth_, which I read earlier in the summer.

The story continues a few generations later in the same area of England where life has not necessarily changed much in terms of people’s struggles to survive and overcome the power struggle of the rich or higher statused.

Even though I was reading this after work had started, I still found it a little bit slow compared to the first novel. I’m not sure what it was exactly…maybe it was just too much similarity or something and I found less to be involved in as the stories progressed.

In any case, it seems there are some films on these books, so perhaps I will watch them one of these days. πŸ™‚

-T πŸ˜€

_The Year of the Flood_ by Margaret Atwood

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Sep 042013
 

_The Year of the Flood_ by Margaret Atwood

_The Year of the Flood_ by Margaret Atwood

Since I still had the freedom to keep reading, I decided to go ahead and read the second novel in the MaddAddam series. The first being _Oryx and Crake_ from a few weeks ago.

The second novel is told from the perspective of two other characters who live through the “Waterless Flood” or pandemic that occurred in the first novel. The characters in both books overlap, but in a very general way. The overlaps leave enough curiosity in the reader to wonder if the characters’ paths will eventually cross or not by the end of the novel.

What I found most interesting in this novel is that one character’s perspective was told from the first person while the other was told in the third. Therefore, it was not always clear exactly who was the narrator or audience, which kept the novel going for me. Also, the first novel was from male perspectives while this one was from the female side. Atwood has really done an amazing job of intertwining the storyline, but keeping them unique enough to really get the sense that a whole world is being revealed through the series rather than a continuation of a story as most series are written.

So, as usual, I will not go into much detail about the story itself as I think that is up to an individual on finding out. However, I have been generally impressed with the writing and style of Atwood. The third and final(?) novel of the series is set to come out in November, I believe. Should be fun to read that!

-T πŸ˜€

_The Book of Tea_ by Kakuzo Okakura

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Sep 022013
 

Book of Tea

_The Book of Tea_ by Kakuzo Okakura

Since early in my Japan days and the days of Loren, this has been amongst my books to read, but never got to for various reasons. When I saw it was free to download on Kindle ages ago, I got it for that aloof ‘someday’. Well, ‘someday’ arrived this summer when I was nearing the end of my purchased books and I was not yet sure if I should start reading longer books when I have many pages to write and articles to read.

However, after quickly finishing _Stillness Speaks_ and not being overly satisfied, I opened _The Book of Tea_ to see how long it would take to read. Surprisingly, I found it was a very short read. So, I read on.

Okakura talks about the history of tea from China to Japan and how the aesthetics and appreciation of tea used to be founded in the Song and Tang dynasties, but was then lost. When Japan took on the art, it took on religious implications of acquiring a zen spirit as well as added in the appreciation of nature and true aesthetics to the point of it becoming its own religious rite in many ways from the arrival to the tea garden, to the entrance of the tea house, to the accepting of the made tea and appreciation for the maker.

It reminded me of some of the more beautiful aspects of Japanese culture that I had come to understand and really enjoy amidst much that I did not like as much. I am glad that I was finally in the right mental space to enjoy the read and find that it has a deep and poetic meaning for a much under-appreciated art form.

-T πŸ˜€

_Stillness Speaks_ by Eckhart Tolle

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Aug 312013
 

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_Stillness Speaks_ by Eckhart Tolle

This is the last of the _Power of Now_ series, if that is what they are called. It was not nearly as interesting or ‘helpful’ as the other two were, but it did still remind me of the importance of being quiet. Mostly, the book reiterates what is said in the previous two books about knowing yourself, going beyond the ego, etc.

What I found most thought-provoking for myself was that as an introvert, I naturally do many of the suggestions or tips Tolle mentions. I analyze myself, watch and listen to others intently, ponder everything and constantly crave silence even from the voices in my head. So, I wonder if extroverts need the pointers in this book more than introverts? Would be an enlightening survey, no? πŸ™‚

Anyway, it was okay, but really the best part was that it was short and quick to read!

-T πŸ˜€

_The Yellow Birds: A Novel_ by Kevin Powers

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Aug 302013
 

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_The Yellow Birds: Β A Novel_ by Kevin Powers

So…my reading frenzy has not quite ended yet; thus I will be updating more here over the next few days. πŸ˜‰

A few months back my parents wanted to send a book on Kindle, but could not figure out how to do it and said they would give it to me for R when I got home. My dad passed it on to me saying how this book was amazing in its writing and that a few of his friends had also said how well-written it is. As it is a book based on the war in Iraq, I was not overly interested in reading it despite the accolades on the writing style. So, I kept it until I met up with R.

Then, R read it and shared the sentiments of awe towards the writing style saying how it is rare to find a writer who can be so poetic in prose. With all these positive comments, I could not help but be interested in it. Therefore, when I ran out of other books to read this summer, I picked it up. The compliments were not wrong. Powers has a great talent and writes beautifully. The story was well-told shifting back and forth between the main character’s time in Iraq and his return home after his one-year tour. Both periods are wonderfully described from the character’s perspective even to someone who has never been in the military, war or in the male psyche. πŸ˜‰

Later, upon discussing the quality of this novel with R, I wondered what other women would think of the writing and story. All of the comments I had heard came from men. Obviously, the book has been nominated for awards and so it is not just men who have read the novel. Yet, I wonder if my other female friends would enjoy the book as much or appreciate the writing style. The reason is that his style reminded me a great deal of Dickens, Steinbeck and other very famous male writers of the past whose talent for minute and extreme description was what made them amazing, but also annoyed the bejibees out of me when I had to read their work. While I did not get annoyed through Powers’ book, I did wonder if it is more of a ‘guys’ book than a ‘gals’.

Anyway, it was a very nice and quick read. I highly recommend it to anyone!

-T πŸ˜€

_Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy_ by Ken Follett

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Aug 222013
 

Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century…

_Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy_ by Ken Follett

So…I think this may be near the end of my summer reading books. There might be time for just a couple more before real life returns and I do not have as much freedom to read, but we shall see. πŸ˜‰

Anyway, after reading _The Pillars of the Earth_ by Follett, I was not so sure if I would read another book by him so soon. However, knowing that one of my friends quite enjoys his books, I went for another title. _Fall of Giants_ is a totally different kind of book from _Pillars_ and perhaps more my kind of novel. It is set in the time leading up to and just after World War I. There are characters showing points of view from Russia, the UK, the US and Germany. Of course, it is a fiction novel using possibilities and some true events from WWI. Still, it was more interesting to read than an actual WWI history book. πŸ˜‰

I enjoyed the way Follett intertwined the characters’ lives somewhat subtly, but in a way that shows our human connection to people around the world despite times of peace and times of war. It’s amazing (sad?) to think that one could be shooting a relative just because of nationality or the demands of differing governments. There is patriotism and loyalty, but at what cost to humanity? War is such a weird thing and makes no logical sense, yet continues around the world….

Anyway, I did enjoy this novel and have already downloaded the next in the series. I am reading another war book at the moment and may go back to Atwood for a break from war stories, but eventually I shall return to Follett’s series. πŸ™‚

-T πŸ˜€

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