Eat, Sleep, Cycle
By Anna Hughes
I always like reading travel books, and this one is about a bicycle trip around Great Britain. Not stellar writing, and not particularly interesting. Mostly about how hard the cycling was, the hills, and then onto the next town.
I would have preferred more about the places, the food, the people, rather than on and on about the cycling, though of course when you're on a long cycling trip, it really is all about the cycling and just getting to the next town.
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into cycling, sure.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Friday, October 27, 2017
#93 The Outrun
The Outrun
By Amy Liptrot
A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.
So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.
The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.
She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.
By Amy Liptrot
A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.
So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.
The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.
She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
#92 Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron
I read this book years ago and loved it then. The good thing about getting old is you forget the books you've read and can read them again with equal interest.
Dewey is a gem. Of course, you have to like cats and stories about cats to appreciate this book. The story is so touching, from his miraculous rescue from an icy cold book box, to the many lives he touched during the years he lived at the Spencer Library.
Thank you Dewey.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like cats, you'll love this book. Of course, I love cats AND I love libraries, so this is a double hitter for me.
By Vicki Myron
I read this book years ago and loved it then. The good thing about getting old is you forget the books you've read and can read them again with equal interest.
Dewey is a gem. Of course, you have to like cats and stories about cats to appreciate this book. The story is so touching, from his miraculous rescue from an icy cold book box, to the many lives he touched during the years he lived at the Spencer Library.
Thank you Dewey.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like cats, you'll love this book. Of course, I love cats AND I love libraries, so this is a double hitter for me.
#91 Hope Has Two Daughters
Hope Has Two Daughters
By Monia Mazigh
A novel about Tunisia. Where is Tunisia anyway? In Northern Africa, close to Morocco.
A young woman grows up in Tunis, during the time of the bread riots of 1984. She longs for escape and freedom from the repression of the political regime. Chance leads her to the American library at the embassy, and she starts reading English novels. She meets a young Canadian computer technician, and they fall in love. The couple marries, but Nadia is disowned by her parents. She moves to Canada and the couple starts their life.
The novel is told in alternating times and voices. Nadia's voice tells her story in 1984, and her daughter Lila's voice tells her story in 2011.
In 2011, Nadia sends her daughter Lila to Tunisia to improve her Arabic. She stays with old friends of her mother. Lila becomes involved with another political movement which leads to an uprising and a revolt against the current leader, who is finally deposed by the will of the people.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Written by a Tunisian Canadian. An interesting read, though the writing is somewhat simple. It could almost be a teen novel.
By Monia Mazigh
A novel about Tunisia. Where is Tunisia anyway? In Northern Africa, close to Morocco.
A young woman grows up in Tunis, during the time of the bread riots of 1984. She longs for escape and freedom from the repression of the political regime. Chance leads her to the American library at the embassy, and she starts reading English novels. She meets a young Canadian computer technician, and they fall in love. The couple marries, but Nadia is disowned by her parents. She moves to Canada and the couple starts their life.
The novel is told in alternating times and voices. Nadia's voice tells her story in 1984, and her daughter Lila's voice tells her story in 2011.
In 2011, Nadia sends her daughter Lila to Tunisia to improve her Arabic. She stays with old friends of her mother. Lila becomes involved with another political movement which leads to an uprising and a revolt against the current leader, who is finally deposed by the will of the people.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Written by a Tunisian Canadian. An interesting read, though the writing is somewhat simple. It could almost be a teen novel.
#90 Inheritance From Mother
Inheritance From Mother
By Minae Mizumura
An interesting book in the first half, and then about halfway through, it totally changed. Strange.
The first half is about two Japanese sisters as they wait for their elderly mother to die. The relive their lives, and how their mother treated them so differently, and reflect on their current lives, as they go through the stages of disease, treatment, old age homes and hospitals with their mother.
Once their mother dies, the novel changes. Mitsuki, the younger daughter, goes off to a hotel at a scenic lake resort in Japan to recover from the stress of the death. There, she meets a cast of characters, and somehow there is a rumour that someone is going to commit suicide. Weird, to say the least, however, Mitsuki is able to think and make some big changes in her life, helped by the inheritance from her mother.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An interesting look about the death process in Japan, and the role of women in modern Japanese society.
By Minae Mizumura
An interesting book in the first half, and then about halfway through, it totally changed. Strange.
The first half is about two Japanese sisters as they wait for their elderly mother to die. The relive their lives, and how their mother treated them so differently, and reflect on their current lives, as they go through the stages of disease, treatment, old age homes and hospitals with their mother.
Once their mother dies, the novel changes. Mitsuki, the younger daughter, goes off to a hotel at a scenic lake resort in Japan to recover from the stress of the death. There, she meets a cast of characters, and somehow there is a rumour that someone is going to commit suicide. Weird, to say the least, however, Mitsuki is able to think and make some big changes in her life, helped by the inheritance from her mother.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: An interesting look about the death process in Japan, and the role of women in modern Japanese society.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
#89 The Sunshine Sisters
The Sunshine Sisters
By Jane Green
Yes, chic lit again. How can this be? However, though this is chic lit, the topic is serious. Three sisters, with a narcissistic actress mother, grow up unsupported and unhappy, traumatized by their mother's lack of care and her divorce from their father.
As adults, they have made choices to survive and heal the wounds from their upbringing.
A phone call from their mother, demanding that they all return home, changes all their lives. Their mother is dying of ALS, but she wants to end her life on her own terms. Before her death, she makes amends with all of her daughters, and the daughters are able to reunite as a family, stronger and wiser.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes, a nice easy read and interesting.
By Jane Green
Yes, chic lit again. How can this be? However, though this is chic lit, the topic is serious. Three sisters, with a narcissistic actress mother, grow up unsupported and unhappy, traumatized by their mother's lack of care and her divorce from their father.
As adults, they have made choices to survive and heal the wounds from their upbringing.
A phone call from their mother, demanding that they all return home, changes all their lives. Their mother is dying of ALS, but she wants to end her life on her own terms. Before her death, she makes amends with all of her daughters, and the daughters are able to reunite as a family, stronger and wiser.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Yes, a nice easy read and interesting.
#88 The Other Einstein
The Other Einstein
By Marie Benedict
An easy read about an interesting subject. Mileva Maric was Albert Einstein's first wife. In this novel, we learn about her brilliance as a mathematician and physicist in the early 20th century. At that time, there were many obstacles for women to overcome if they wanted a life of more than marriage. Mileva is able to study at university, where she meets Albert and they fall in love. As happens to so many women, she gets pregnant, and Albert is slow to take on his marital obligations when he finds out. Mileva finds herself a wife and mother, and thus her career is over. However, the novel explores her role in the discovery of "Einstein's" theory of relativity. Was it, in fact, Mileva's discovery?
Albert publishes his most famous paper without putting Mileva's name on as co-author, making many excuses for the omission. Though they collaborate on many other publications, Mileva's name is always omitted, thus her brilliance and contributions are negated.
Albert was also a philanderer. They eventually divorce.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An easy read and an interesting subject. The novel shows that Albert Einstein was a cheater and philanderer. Does he really deserve the accolades of his fame?
By Marie Benedict
An easy read about an interesting subject. Mileva Maric was Albert Einstein's first wife. In this novel, we learn about her brilliance as a mathematician and physicist in the early 20th century. At that time, there were many obstacles for women to overcome if they wanted a life of more than marriage. Mileva is able to study at university, where she meets Albert and they fall in love. As happens to so many women, she gets pregnant, and Albert is slow to take on his marital obligations when he finds out. Mileva finds herself a wife and mother, and thus her career is over. However, the novel explores her role in the discovery of "Einstein's" theory of relativity. Was it, in fact, Mileva's discovery?
Albert publishes his most famous paper without putting Mileva's name on as co-author, making many excuses for the omission. Though they collaborate on many other publications, Mileva's name is always omitted, thus her brilliance and contributions are negated.
Albert was also a philanderer. They eventually divorce.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: An easy read and an interesting subject. The novel shows that Albert Einstein was a cheater and philanderer. Does he really deserve the accolades of his fame?
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