Room by Emma Donoghue

Eggsnake is more longer than all around Room, we’ve been making him since I was three, he lives in Under Bed all coiled up keeping us safe. Most of his eggs are brown but sometimes there’s a white, some have patterns on from pencils or crayons or Pen or bits stuck on with flour glue, a foil crown and a yellow ribbon belt and threads and bits of tissue for hairs.
~Page 21

Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
ISBN: 9780330519021
Publisher: Picador/2011
Pages: 401

The novel opens with the 5th birthday of Jack, a bright, babbling boy, who is looking forward to his birthday. He knows his Ma will make things for him, spoil him and be very good to him. But the reader does not that they are living a small space, cut off from the world. Their whole world is that room. Jack does not anything that is outside. Outside for him is in TV. And inside is what it is. Ma and Jack are friends with every inanimate object they have. Al there is the room is shared by both. Nothing belongs to just one of them.

How did they come about into that room? Ma, (she has no name) was kidnapped from her college campus by a psychopath when she was 19. And she has been held captive in a soundproof room, hidden from the world. Jack is born in that tiny space. The man who kidnapped her is known as "Old Nick". And when he visits Ma, Jack is sent into the wardrobe where Ma keeps him hidden. She doesn't want "old Nick" to see him, interact with him, although the boy is obviously a result of his visits. 

Jack is very bright, intelligent and knowledgeable. Ma tries to teach him as much as she can, fully well knowing their situation. She knows that they have to escape somehow and plants ideas about their escape in Jack's mind. And the escape is on Easter. 

The Outside is not all hunky-dory for Jack. He wants to go back. When his Ma is rescued too, he wishes for both to be back in that room. Ma has a tough time to adjust too.

The novel alludes to many real and allegory things. It is not an easy read but once you start, you can't put it down. One loves Jack instantaneously. The novel speaks about a mother's love for her child and to protect him at any cost. We do see Ma getting lost into herself completely and Jack somehow understands that. The novel is not explicit. It touches a very serious crime yet it is so beautiful. Made more so by Jack and his Ma, their relationship. I say, a must read!

One of the best books I read. Thanks to Aisle B. for my copy.

Mondays: Mailbox/Where Am I/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Mari of Mari Reads is hosting for the month of May.

I received one book in my mailbox! That too unsolicited from Hachette India!

A Flawed God by Arjun Shekhar

Ten years working in one company, struggling to innovate or die, Sanchit Mishra - Sancho - is staring bleakly at his performance appraisal form, clueless about how to raise his ratings, when he decides to ask his colleague Pause Daniels to become his performance therapist. A delightful and thought-provoking story of an ordinary executive sucked into a secret world of anonymous superheroes out to revolutionise the business world, a parallel world that pumps some self-esteem into the protagonist. The action picks up when the firm is taken over by a multinational company who insist on a forced retirement scheme for the majority of the staff. An ugly industrial relations situation ensues leading to the kidnapping of the Human Resources Director.

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I finished the following book:

1)  Borderlands by Brian McGilloway (CF)

And in the midst of reading 

1) Far to Go by Alison Pick

2) Silent Partner by Jennifer Chase

Posted review of 

1) Caribou Island by David Vann

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Describe the last time you were stumped for something to read, and you took measures to remedy that — either by going to the bookstore, the library, or shopping elsewhere. What book did you choose? Did it get you out of your slump?

Last year I was going through a reading slump. No book held my interest. I bought The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. It somewhat got me out of my reading slump. To speak the truth, I am still in a very reading mode.....

TSS/Weekly Geeks: Social Issue---Body Image and books related to it

Long time I did a Weekly Geeks post. This one took me back to May 2008, when Dewey was alive and she had posted it. As it is still so relevant, so I decided to go for it.

Choose a political or social issue that matters to you. Find several books addressing that issue; they don’t have to books you’ve read, just books you might like to read. Using images (of the book covers or whatever you feel illustrates your topic) present these books in your blog.

I am choosing Body Image. We all can connect with it. All of us have had some issues related to it. How do we define Body Image?

All of us are aware that Body image refers to a person's perception of the aesthetics and sexual attractiveness of their own body. Human society has at all times placed great value on beauty of the human body, but a person's perception of their own body may not correspond to society's standards. The concept of body image includes psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, philosophy and cultural and feminist studies.  People who have a low body image try to alter their body in some way, such as by dieting, or undertaking cosmetic surgery. The media is responsible for creating a perfect Body Image, which does not exist. 

Now let's take some books related to Body Image.

Body image: understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women, and children by Sarah Grogan

Sarah Grogan provides a comprehensive overview of the subject of body image, pulling together diverse research from the fields of psychology, sociology, media, and gender studies in men, women, and children. 

Under the Skin A Psychoanalytic Study of Body Modification by Alessandra Lemma

Under the Skin considers the motivation behind why people pierce, tattoo, cosmetically enhance, or otherwise modify their body, from a psychoanalytic perspective. It discusses how the therapist can understand and help individuals for whom the manipulation of the body is felt to be psychically...

The Invisible Man :A Self-help Guide for Men With Eating Disorders, Compulsive Exercise and Bigorexia by John F. Morgan

Increasingly boys and men are suffering with eating disorders and related body image problems. Some have full-blown conditions such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating, compulsive exercising or bigorexia. Others are distressed by slightly lesser degrees of disordered eating or over-exercise and seek ways of overcoming their problems.

The Invisible Man applies the latest research to produce a practical, problem-focused self-help manual for men with eating disorders and body image problems. Divided into four sections, this evidence-based survival kit covers:

• the wider cultural context of male body image problems
• features unique to men
• science fact and science fiction
• a 7 stage approach to treatment.

By combining the science of cognitive behaviour therapy with motivational enhancement and problem-solving therapies, The Invisible Man provides help to all men with body image disorders, as well as families and professionals involved in their care.

Friday Find: Charlie Wilson's war by George Crile

Charlie Wilson's war by George Crile: The extraordinary story of the covert operation that changed the history of our times In the last decade, two events have transformed the world: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of militant Islam. There is one man that links them, and his name is Charlie Wilson. In the early 1980s, Wilson - a Texan congressman on the House Appropriations Committee - learned of a ragged band of Afghan 'freedom fighters' whose aim was to resist their Soviet invaders. Wilson became passionate about their cause and managed to procure hundreds of millions of dollars to support them. This is the first book to uncover Wilson's covert deals with the men who would become known as the mujahideen. George Crile spent nearly a decade researching and writing this original account of the biggest, most expensive secret war in history: the arming of the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. Moving from the secret chambers in CIA headquarters to stand-offs in the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson's War is one of the most thorough and vivid descriptions of CIA operations ever written. It is the missing chapter in the geopolitics of our time.

Book Blogger Hop/Follow me

Follow Friday, is hosted by ParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java

Jennifer asks, "What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?"

Frankly, I don't like movie adaptations of books. I prefer to red rather than watch!

ParaJunkee asks, " How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?"

I try to read three books a week. In its old avatar! Paper ones!

Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!

Booking through Rut

Do you ever feel like you’re in a reading rut? That you don’t read enough variety? That you need to branch out, spread your literary wings and explore other genres, flavors, styles?

I don't think I am in a rut. Except for YA/paranormal stuff, I read everything. I can read the most difficult of books. There are some books I can't get into but that is only after trying to read those. For fantasy, I can't read too much of it. The Zombie books, Vampire one all seem to be clones of each other. Read one, read them all!

Romance novels are my guilty pleasures. When I am in a reading slack, they help me get into it. As do Crime Fiction, which contain a vast genre...

At the end of the day, I don't believe in ruts or gluts...

Top Ten Books I have Lied About

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week, we get a theme to list our top tens. 

This week's Top Ten is: Top Ten Books I have Lied About

Well, I simply move on to another book, if I am unable to read a book. Never thought of lying about that. It's a pity that I couldn't even lie about Ulysses by James Joyce, which I couldn't go beyond 4 pages. Or Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Saying that I read them can do wonders for my prestige but do I need that?

That's about it!

Caribou Island by David Vann

I opened our front door and found my mother hanging from the rafters. I'm sorry, I said, and I stepped back and closed the door. 

~Page 1, Caribou Island by David Vann

Title: Caribou Island
Author: David Vann
ISBN: 978-0061875724
Publisher:Harper/2011
Pages:304

Based in wilds Alaska, we see Gary trying to build a cabin from scratch in Caribou Island. There is nothing, no plan, no clear cut vision, but just the compelling need to build a cabin in the middle of nowhere. His wife, Irene is against it. But she is helpless in a way. She thinks if she does not do as Gary wants, he will leave her. She has mysterious headaches. Dsspite tests, nothing comes up. 

Gary is one of those people who always regrets what he has done. He is most of the times thinking, what if. He has many regrets, yet he goes on to his next ventures, with a single mindedness. 

Meanwhile, their daughter Rhonda is thinking about settling down with Jim, a dentist. She tries to hold her family together. She is very worried about her parents, knows hat the cabin is a foolhardy decision but she can't do anything about it. Her brother Mark is not to bothered. 

Caribou Island speaks of the conflicts in our mind. One which we can't vocalize but are very much affected by those. Irene has never recovered from her mother's suicide. And fears abandonment from Gary. She is a terrible situation of not loving him and yet can't live if he leaves her. Raw, stark and bleak feelings take her over. 

Caribou Island is dark. It tells us how love can go wrong. After a while hope has no place. We do lose the thread once in a while but we can't let go of the novel. The building of the cabin is a metaphor of everything going wrong. 

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Mari of Mari Reads is hosting for the month of May.
I received one book in my mailbox!

Far to Go by Alison Pick:  tells the story of an affluent Czech Jewish family at the onset of the Second World War. The lives of Pavel and Anneliese Bauer are observed through the adoring but misguided eyes of their son’s governess, Marta. A second, unnamed voice addresses the reader from the present. Part mystery, part love story, Far to Go asks question about the legacy of secrecy and answers them with incredible heart. It is a beautifully written book that appeals not only to the history buff but to anyone who has loved deeply and lost.

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I finished the following books:

1) Caribou Island by David Vann

2) The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

And in the midst of reading 

Far to Go by Alison Pick

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Watch out for this space!

TSS: Half a week without the internet

Our telephone line went dead. I get ADSL connection via it. So I did not have continuous net access for four days, although I did go to my brother's place every evening to check my mails. I had scheduled some posts. So my blogs were not without posts as such. However, visiting others and commenting was not possible and I am still trying to catch up. 

We all know that we feel so vacant without the net. It has become an extension of what we are. Without net, we feel bereft and somehow incomplete. I felt the same way. But that also translated into catching up with my pending work and reading. I read a lot. Finished two novels and am on my third. I also kind of updated my paperwork. 

I am behind my reviews. But I think that reading is far more important than writing reviews. Will get around that too.

Book Blogger Hop/Follow me

Follow Friday, is hosted by ParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java

Jennifer asks, "What book-to-movie adaption have you most liked?  Which have you disliked?"

Frankly, I don't like movie adaptations of books. I prefer to red rather than watch!

ParaJunkee asks, " How many books do you read in a week? And in what format do you read them, or listen to them?"

I try to read three books a week. In its old avatar! Paper ones!

Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!

Booking through Age-Inappropriate

In contrast to last week’s question–What do you think of censoring books BECAUSE of their intended age? Say, books too “old” for your kids to read?

Well, I have always read ADULT books when I was in my teens. Classics, detective fictions, whodunnits, etc etc. However reading sexually explicit stuff was kind of banned. Not by my parents, but it was self imposed. And I do think there are stuff which are not suitable for children.

A fairly recent example is The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This book was bought by my 15 year old niece. She simply couldn't get into the story. I too felt it was inappropriate for her age. (She gifted the novel to me!!)

I think there are some genres, which are not really understood by the young and they need a bit of growing up before they can understand those fully. However, some grow fast, some take a while. It all depends on our mental age.

Teaser Tuesday: Room by Emma Donoghue

“Doh,” she says, slapping her head, “I guess they’re a foot square, I must have made the ruler a little too short. Let’s just count the tiles, then, that’s easier.”

~Page 17, Room by Emma Donoghue

Mondays: Mailbox/What AM I reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Mari of Mari Reads is hosting for the month of May.

I received Nothing in my mailbox!

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I finished the following books:

1) Before I go to sleep by S J Watson

2) Room by Emma Donoghue

3) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Sunday Salon: Mini Reviews

I have read too many romances in the form of e-books. And none of those need a full review. So I thought I would do Mini Reviews! All these novels can be found free! From Amazon. I read those with the help of a Kindle For PC, which can be downloaded for free from there. Try it! Works GREAT!!


 Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren

Alex is a private investigator who works with her dad, and she is hired by a woman who has seen a photo in a newspaper of Brodie Hayes,a former rodeo star. And thinks that he is her long lost son stolen from the hospital forty years ago. Alex tracks him down and unknown to him takes something from for a DNA sample. Initially Alex is skeptical about the whole thing but somehow it is not really closed case at all.  She starts to empathize with Brodie. It is not really a superficial romance although the does does suggest that. It has depth and the characterization is good even of those who have grey shades. The love story is only secondary to the story of stolen child..that is Brodie...

The Bride's Baby by Liz Fielding

Tom and Sylvie have an one-night stand and as a consequence Sylvie gets pregnant. When Tom sees Sylvie after a few months, he thinks she is having a baby by some other man and also thinks Sylvie is going to marry that man. Both are in love with each other but they don't say it. This novel is all about misunderstanding.  And it kind of finishes fast. The characters are too proud to talk about their feeling. Made a fast and easy read. 

A Very Special Delivery by Linda Goodnight 

In a stormy night, the reclusive Ethan Hunter leaves his infant daughter in Molly's care. She is terrified but does care for the little girl. And when he returns to get his daughter back, Molly and Ethan are stuck in the farmhouse during the snowstorm, but when they're back in the real world that their relationship starts. Molly, who has withdrawn from society after being part of a horrific tragedy, is forced to get and it seems she can't Ethan. Both Molly and Ethan have histories and troubled pasts but they do deal with that to find happiness with each other.

Click on the titles to get all those downloaded for free!!

To be continued, next Sunday.......

Blogger Woes

Well, I can post NOW but seem to have lost my BTT post and lots of comments! Maybe we should all move to wordpress!!

MASS EXODUS!!!. 

Literary Blog Hop: Much Hyped but....

Literary Blog Hop is hosted by The Blue Bookcase. If you features book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion, you too can join in!

This week's question is:

What books have you read that have been hyped as literary and, in your opinion, were not?

For Whom the Bells Toll by Ernest Hemingway: I just couldn't get into it. I mean I finished it but somehow found it very lacking. I might be in the minority for saying so, Hemingway did nothing for my reading. I didn't feel elevated or enhanced. I felt as if I missed something. 

Told from the point of view of Robert Jordan, a character supposedly inspired by Hemingway's own experiences in the Spanish Civil War, I simply couldn't comprehend what was going on. Yes, it depicts the brutality of war and conflicts in Jordan's mind but do I need to read a novel of almost 500 pages to learn that? I felt it was a let down and nothing literary about it... Except for The Old Man and the Sea, I have not read any of his other books.  

Booking through Age-Appropriate

Do you read books “meant” for other age groups? Adult books when you were a child; Young-Adult books now that you’re grown; Picture books just for kicks … You know … books not “meant” for you. Or do you pretty much stick to what’s written for people your age?

I can read almost anything, but I do tend to avoid Fantasy, which is mainly aimed for young adults. Paranormal stuff I can't read, which too is somewhat aimed for YA.

Having said that, I have enjoyed the Harry Potter novels. Our perception does change with age. I devoured Agatha Christie as a teenager. I still do but there is a subtle shift. Previously it was more for the detective part, now I also analyse the various characters. That can be said about any book. But let me be spared from Fantasy and Paranormal stuff!

Top Ten Biggest Jerks In Literature

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week, we get a theme to list our top tens. 


This week's Top Ten is: Top Ten Biggest Jerks In Literature

Here I can only think of the following, in no particular order:

1) Sher Khan from The Jungle Book stories by Rudyard Kipling
2) Long John Silver from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
3) Milo Minderbinder from Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
4) Fred from The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
5) Bill Sikes from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
6) Alec d'Urberville from Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
7) Mr Hyde from Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
8) Iago from Othello by William Shakespeare
9) O'Brien from Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
10) Ellsworth Toohey from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Teaser Tuesday: Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

He is handsome, attractive, and when I look closely I can see that it is the same man I slept with, the one I left in the bed. The word Ben is written beneath it, and next to it. Your husband.


~Page 13, Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson 

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Mari of Mari Reads is hosting for the month of May.

I received the following four books in my mailbox, thanks to the author/publicists/blog friends:

1) Before I go to sleep by S J Watson, from the author

2) The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie, from Aisle B

3) Room by Emma Donoghue, from Aisle B

4) Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham, from the publicist

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I finished the following e-books, pretty easy reads (trash, you can say!!):

1) His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls

2) The Italian's Inexperienced Mistress by Lynne Graham

3) Married by Mistake Abby Gains

4) Speed Dating by Nancy Warren

I am in the midst of reading:

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

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Do you ever find scenes from previous books you’ve read popping into your head at random times? If so, does it bother you? If it doesn’t happen to you, why do you think that is?

Some books do leave an impact. And scenes do pop inside the head at odd times. It does not bother me unless it is a very gory book. I try to analyse the graphic depiction...

TSS: For all the mothers out there....

Mom and Me

let it be forever

tiny shaking shakes me out
the capsules on the floor tell me a tale
she who is ramrod straight
despairs in the midst

I sit with her on the floor
embrace her to me
she gives in
but only for a while

her voices soothes me
her arms hold me
she is again the strong mother
I am again the daughter

"forever, let it be forever, 
although that isn't enough either"

Book Blogger Hop/Follow me

Follow Friday, is hosted by ParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java

Jennifer asks, "Which book blogger would you most like to meet in real life?"

Stacy of Stacy's Books. I love her blog and her newly born son, Gage!! :D

ParaJunkee asks, "What character in a book would you most like to be, what character in a book would you most like to date?"

I would love to be Harry Potter. And as for dating goes, I think, I would love to date Sherlock Holmes!!

Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!