TSS: The Journey Home by Michael Baron

Title: The Journey Home
Author: Michael Baron
ISBN: 9780981956862
Publisher: Mass Market Paperback/2010
Pages: 176

The Journey Home takes the reader into a journey of three people who are totally unconnected. Joseph comes out of sleep and doesn't remember who he is. Yet he can feel his wife calling out to him and has to go to her although he doesn't know where and how. He meets Will, a 17-year-old boy, who offers him to take Joseph anywhere he wants to go.

Warren seems to have lost his mother to Alzheimer's. He has a lot of personal problems, what with a lost job and being in midst of a divorce. Still he knows that he has to coax his mother out of it. He takes pains and cooks for her, her own recipes over the years.

Antoinette, Warren's mother, in her lucid moments, only wants to lie in bed and dream of her husband to come to her.

All these characters are lost in their own ways and have to find a way to come into terms with themselves. They have find their comfort zones, their safe havens. THe reader gets totally involved with their thought processes. THese seemingly unconnected people somehow come together, finding peace at last.

It is a very short novel, seems a bit slow at times but it makes the reader think. Baron has done a good job with the ending. And the best part of the book, are the recipes, and the cooking by Warren, which he does out of love for his mother. Each ones, feelings, desires, pains have been brought forward very well.

Start of my summer vacations

Our schools closed for the summer from today onwards. It felt so good in the morning, waking up to find that I don't have to rush for work for the next 7 weeks. I plan to relax completely for the next two days, that means, I will not think about my work at all. Mind you, I do love teaching but I like vacations too.

My brother and his family are here for a short visit, from Bangalore. I have been having fun with them but they leave tomorrow morning.

As most of you know, I will be going back to reading and of course, reviewing. I have a lot of pending books to review. I ought to catch up with those in the next some days. I am in midst of many books but haven't been able to finish any of those.

There are so many others stuff I wish to do and I will be tackling those too although I have not planned how to go about those as yet.

What do you do in the summer vacations? Do you pursue a new hobby or continue with the old ones?

Friday Find: Serena by Ron Rash

Serena by Ron Rash

Book Description:

The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains -- but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.

Half way booking

So … you’re halfway through a book and you’re hating it. It’s boring. It’s trite. It’s badly written. But … you’ve invested all this time to reading the first half. What do you do? Read the second half? Just to finish out the story? Find out what happens? Or, cut your losses and dump the second half?

If a book doesn't work for me after 50 pages, I usually dump it. If I am halfway through a book and have to plod through it, I skim the second half to finish faster. Why waste time reading something that doesn't work for me when I can read interesting stuff in the same time?

What do you think? What works for you?

A-Z Wednesday: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Title: My Name is Red

Author: Orhan Pamuk

ISBN: 0375706852

Publisher: Vintage International/2001

Pages: 413

This novel has many layers to it. A murder mystery, a love story and also speaks out about Islamic society. One can feel the tensions throughout for the rise and fall of various empires which is told by the way of miniature art. At some point in the book, we do not care who the murder is but get involved in the treachery of politics, the love affair and want to know more about the Islamic society. Being an Indian, and knowing a bit about Islam did help me.

There is clash between cultures. Between spirituality and materialism. Between getting fame at whatever cost and bowing to art. Between God's will and man's doing. How does one define sin? Can one justify it? Does it merge somewhere? Is there really a fine line? These are few of the questions one asks while reading. A few get answered, a few don't. That does not take away anything from the book. We can see the eternal conflict between the old and new, and tradition and change i.e., that of East and West. Then there are those artists who only depend on copying, others who want to take in the western influence to show other perceptions.

This book has been narrated in many voices, mostly human. However, a few include a horse, a dog, a tree and a coin. Also we see voice of death. One tends to get different perception in this way of speaking. The novel begins with the voice of a dead person, the recently killed Elegant Effendi. His murderer is a recurring character, telling his story both anonymously and also as a character not identified by the others as being the killer, until the end.

The setting of the book is the late 16th century, in Istanbul. Elegant Effendi and his murderer are both artists: miniaturists and illustrators. Other important characters are Enishte Effendi, a master artist, his nephew, called Black, who too is a miniaturist, and his daughter Shekure. Black had fallen in love with Shekure, but it was not possible for them to marry. Black left Istanbul and returned after twelve years. Meanwhile, Shekure got married three years after he left, and has two sons. However her husband disappeared years ago and is presumed to be dead. Now her husband's brother Hasan, wants to marry her as does Black.

Pamuk's descriptions and evocations are like the miniatures he describes. Very detailed, very pictursque and paying attention to finer nuances which can be used to for different effects, at different times. It is a fascinating read, although it is very slow in the beginning.

Teaser Tuesdays: In the Wake of Boatman by Jonathon Scott Fuqua

"He should crack his little boy's neck as gently as possible. It would be like saving two lives."
~Page 1

Title: in the wake of the boatman
Author: Jonathon Scott Fuqua
ISBN: 978-1890862428
Publisher: Bancroft Press/2008
Pages: 320

Right from his birth, Puttnum Douglas Steward, is considered no good by his father. He is ignored and faces antagonism at every step. He always seeks attention ut his father has closed his mind and thinks Puttnam is non-existent for him. The boy struggles to prove himself to his father but for no avail. Then he gets into University of Virginia on an ROTC scholarship. His life changes. There he has a fling with his cadet commandent. He also experiments with cross dressing and finds that it is what he is.

In this novel, Putt has a lot of dilemmas: father/son conflict, homosexuality, transsexuality, war, alcoholism, death, loneliness, friendship, and romantic anguish. This novel wholly embolds its ambitious scope, including the ambiguity and loose ends that are part of any complex personalty. Putt is a complicated yet so very real protagonist with enough emotional courage to bind together the deeply conflicting issues depicted in the novel.

In the Wake of the Boatman is well written, filled with poetic prose. The novel contains a nuanced and worthy portrait of a life struggling towards fulfillment. Putt pulls off the book all by himself.

Mailbox Mondays (3rd May)

Monday Mailbox is hosted by Marcia.

I received the following five books:

1) Lost Alphabet by Lisa Olstein

This second collection from Olstein is an impressive sequence of prose poems spoken in the voice of a lepidopterist engaged in isolated research on butterflies and moths near a village whose residents reluctantly embrace her presence. Flirting with fiction without quite unfurling a clear narrative, Olstein's speaker finds correlatives for her lonely if exploratory inner life in the insects—living and dead—she is studying: I have long recognized kindness in the way they fly. She thinks about and longs for a companion named Ilya, whose advice she mulls over often (It is customary to pray for sound health and good understanding. Ilya says to be more specific is unwise—it's a mistake to believe we know what we require); eventually, he joins her in her work.

2) The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

When the young Queen Elizabeth I is entrusted with Anne Boleyn's secret diary, she discovers a great deal about the much-maligned mother she never knew. And on learning the truth about her lascivious and despotic father, Henry VIII, she vows never to relinquish control to any man. But this avowal doesn't prevent Elizabeth from pursuing a torrid love affair with her horsemaster, Robin Dudley -- described with near-shocking candor -- as too are Anne's graphic trysts with a very persistent and lustful Henry. Blending a historian's attention to accuracy with a novelist's artful rendering, Maxwell weaves compelling descriptions of court life and devastating portraits of actual people into her naughty, page-turning tale.

3) In Harm's Way By Irene Hannon

FBI special agent Nick Bradley has seen his share of kooks during his fifteen years with the Bureau. But Rachel Sutton is an enigma. She seems normal when she shows up at the FBI office in St. Louis--until she produces a tattered Raggedy Ann doll she found and tells him she thinks something is wrong because of a strange feeling of terror it gives her when she touches it. Nick dismisses her, only to stumble across a link between the doll and an abducted child, setting in motion a chain of events that uncovers startling connections--and puts Rachel's life on the line.

4) The Language Of Secrets by Dianne Dixon

What does one do when one discovers that the life one is having shouldn't be happening as one has been dead for a long time now? How would you feel if you found out you had tombstone for youself? Justin faces it and doesn't know how it came about. He is very much alive, has a good job, a beautiful wife and a toddler son.

The book goes back and forth from 2006 to the early 70s. From his point of view to his mother's. Told poignantly, it is a man's search for his identity and facing the painful past. Although Justin never gets to know his mother, the reader feels her pain, her sadness and the life she led without her son. It touches us at places that we can't fathom.

5) The Healers by Thomas Heric

The Healers begins in the year 2021, when medicine has become corporatized and proprietary treatments are closely guarded secrets. Recent medical school graduate Wesley Anderson is approached to become part of a mysterious medical clan know as the Aesculapian Healers, who cure most illnesses with a money-back guarantee. Their fees are so steep, however, that they have earned the reputation as medical pirates.

When he reluctantly becomes a Healer in order to aid problems in his personal life, Wesley finds himself stumbling upon a whirlwind of dark secrets behind the Aesculapian miracle cures that he never could have imagined. Eventually uniting himself with a group of dissident outsiders who oppose the disturbing medical practices, Wesley is conflicted between his conscience and the power at the heart of his new profession. These Healers provide a service to humanity—but at what cost?

Thanks to the authors and/ or publicists

Musings/It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Hosted by Rebecca of Just One More Page..

Do you frequent second hand book stores? Have you ever bought a book home only to find anything interesting within their pages?

I do frequent second hand book stores. I have found the best of bargains there for almost the price of peanuts. In Delhi, we do have a Sunday book Bazaar on the pavements, which is very popular. It is one of my favourites haunts to pick out interesting books.

However, I don't remember finding anything interesting within the books other than random bookmarks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hosted by Sheila of Bookjourney

I finished:

In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon
What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy
The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon

I am in midst of reading:
The Memorist by M J Rose
O' Juliet by Robin Maxwell
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

I posted reviews of:

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The Language Of Secrets by Dianne Dixon

TSS: April Wrap Up

Reading wise, April was as good as March. I read the following 15 books and started a few more. My reading was varied and thats the way I prefer it. I have managed to review only 5 of those and will get around reviewing the others soon. If you have read any of the following books, please leave a link of it on the comments section. I will link my review to yours.

45) In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon (CF)
44) What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy
43) The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon
42) Tomorrow River by Lesley Kagen
41) The Journey Home by Michael Baron
40) Taste of Cherry by Kara Candito
39) The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
38) Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons
37) The Cold Room by J T Ellison (CF)
36) Greater Love by Robert Whitlow
35) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (CF)
34) The Cutting by James Hayman (CF)
33) The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (CF)
32) In the Wake of Boatman by Jonathan Fuqua
31) Open Country by Kaki Warner

Hope I keep up with this pace in May too.

So how was your reading in April? Can you recommend any good books to me?

Weekly Geeks: Tackling Series Books

How you guys deal with that book in that series that you are following, that is just not doing it for you.

• What series do you read where you have had an issue with one of the books in the line-up.
• Do you cut the author lose after one miss, or do you have a limit of failed books in a series before you toss in the towel.
• What's your suggestion for that book that you struggle with in a series.
• If you are not a series reader – Toss the question out on your blog, see what your readers think.

I usually read Stand Alone books. Only series I remember reading is the Harry Potter one. Even those I read in a haphazard way, not by series. Not that it made much difference to me. One series I am hooked to now is the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I have read two and waiting to read the third one. This is one series which has made me want more.

Having said that, give me Stand Alone books any day.

How about you? Which do you prefer?