The novel begins when ten old Daniel Sempere is taken, by his father, to a dark and mysterious place called The Cemetery Of Forgotten Books. Here he discovers a world where abandoned and neglected books find an eternal home in this obscure and magical place.

He is told that he may take just one book for his very own, but he must keep it with himself always. This book and him will always be bound together. Daniel chooses The Shadow Of The Wind by Julian Carax, a book he has never before heard of and one whose author is a complete mystery to him.

Nevertheless Daniel is full of excitement at owning this precious and unusual treasure, but almost immediately it leads him to receives unwanted attention from an ominous and terrifying man who strikingly resembles the villain in The Shadow Of The Wind. This disfigured and ominous man begins appearing outside of Daniels apartment, just like the villain from the novel. He tries in vain to persuade Daniel to hand over his book which the stranger confesses he desperately wants to burn, like he wants to do with all of Carax’s book.

As the pressure mounts Daniel decides to find out for himself the true history of the book and the reason why this man would be so desperately pursuing him. Soon Daniel realises that the novels writer Carax has a dark and mysterious past, his death is one large question mark and the deeper Daniel digs the more he realises how inexplicably his life was linked with that of a beautiful lady whose whereabouts is again ambiguous and unknown. The further he digs the more it becomes apparent that there are unresolved events looming in the past, now threatening to leak into the present, but even more alarmingly it would seem a perfect paradox is appearing between Daniels life and  that of Julian’s.

Zafron takes his slow and delectable time in peeling away the many layers of mystery in this story but if the truth is a long time waiting the novel never suffers. Peppered with humour, romance and great and beautiful friendships the book is an intricately woven masterpiece. A true story.

Book Groups Reaction…

It was a record-breaking book group moment when we met to discuss the book: for once we all loved it. From the plot to the characters to the ending and to the story on a whole, our reaction was unanimously positive. In fact being the ever critical bunch that we are we tried to find a fault but really struggled.

Everyone agreed that the book had an echo of Dickens about it. Something about this perfectly formed picture blew us all away. Most writers seems to excel in certain area’s but fail subsequently in others but Zafron is consistent.

If I had to be critical and I really hate to when a book is so good, I would say the ending seemed a little clichéd, perhaps not quite in keeping with the rest of the story. That said he didn’t cave into that most cardinal of sins that so many writers commit; writing a rushed and harried ending. To the end he took his time.

Myself and Manchester’s Artistic Son found the characterization of women particularly interesting, is it just us or are all the women portrayed as sexual objects? Created to steal the glance of any man in their path? Not that we believe the author to be sexist, I think it’s fair to say we both agreed that this was a clever literary move in order to represent how women were perhaps viewed in that time.

Holly and Sammy Dee disagreed slightly, not seeing such a contrived message in the book. But this discussion only lead us to ponder how on one level the book is quite simply an extraordinary story, but on the other a very thought-provoking novel which leaves you with much to ponder.

What does everyone else think of this book? Did you love it as much as we all did? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Russian Winter is the story of Nina Revskaya, once a beautiful ballerina she is now confined to a wheelchair, crippled with arthritis, betrayed by the very body she has so devotedly perfected. When she decides to donate her entire jewellery collection to Beller auction house and give the proceeds to a ballet school Nina is suddenly flooded with a barrage of inescapable memories. The life she had tried so desperately to escape and leave behind threatens to haunt her once again. Despite her defiance that she will not return to long suppressed memories she is persistently quizzed by Drew Brooks who is leading the auction and whose own curiosity leaves her desperate to know the true origins and history of Nina’s fascinating collection.

Although meeting a wall of cold refusal from the former dancer she is given another window of hope when Professor Grigori Solodin donates a beautiful amber necklace which seems to be part of a set, the two other pieces of which Nina owns but will soon be losing to the auction. What has caused her to giver up these magnificent and valuable pieces? Why is she so secretive about their origins? And what is the connection between the pieces in her collection and Grigori’s necklace?

And so the novel is told back and forth in split time frames. In the modern day Nina tries to fight her memories  and escape from her looming past. Whilst Drew and Grigori forge a friendship trying to unravel the insurmountable obscurity of this jewellery collection, Nina’s  anonymous past and Grigori’s own possible connection to her.

In the past we are given small but delectable snippets of Nina’s charming and fascinating life as a young ballerina in love, surrounded by wonderful and gifted friends in the height of her career. Yet even in the innocence of youth her life is far from simple; set to backdrop of Stalin’s rule in the 1940’s the novel is very often harrowing and painful to read. Daphne displays in accurate and heartbreaking detail an image of life under unimaginable tyranny.

I must admit I had a preference for the parts of the story set in the past. There was something so utterly absorbing in reading about Nina’s life on and off stage; a life that is at times intoxicatingly glamorous and at other stiflingly oppressive.

I’ve read very few books set in this time and didn’t realise the book would so heavily feature this portrayal of communist Russia but these sections of the book actually made up some of my favourite moments in the story. I was shocked to learn so much about the secrecy and lies that haunted this time. How the constant concealment of truth could build a rift between even some of the greatest and most genuine loves.

The ending didn’t go quite as I expected and perhaps quite as I would have liked it to, but this is a book that for me had it’s strengths in the journey on a whole and not in it’s destination.

I didn’t have too many expectations when picking up this book, I love the ballet so hoped that aspect would hold my attention but what I discovered inside of those pages was so much more. Thrilling, captivating, glamorous and at times frightening. Russian Winter blends shocking historical detail with a tragic but beautiful tale of love.

A must read this year.

I read this book as part of a blog tour organised by TLC Book Tours. I’ve enjoyed reading the thoughts from the other people on this tour, and look forward to the others. You can check them out here:

Monday, February 6th: She Reads

Wednesday, February 8th: Reading With Tea

Thursday, February 9th: Fleur Fisher In Her World

Tuesday, February 14th: DizzyC’s Little Book Blog – autoher interview

Wednesday, February 15th: Pining For The West

Thursday, February 16th: Chuck’s Miscellany

Monday, February 20th: One More Page

Tuesday, February 21st: I hug My Books

Wednesday, February 22th: The Sweet Bookshelf

Thursday, February 2rd: A Book Sanctuary

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book, far from it, from start to finish it was easy to absorb myself into the world of Lily and her companions and there were occasional moments which were touching and affecting.

The Secret Life of Bee’s is the story of Lilly Owens and the emotional, tumultuous journey she must take in order to find the love and security she has her whole life craved.Since the tender age of four Lilly Owens has harboured a dark secret; when she was just a little girl she accidentally killed her mother. Now ten years later she is desperately searching for atonement and redemption but all she is faced with is spiteful rejection from her cruel and tyrannical father T-Ray. Her only companion on the lonely farm where she lives in South Carolina, is her friend, the families black servant Rosaleen.

It’s Rosaleen who shows her the first real semblances of love, it’s Rosaleen who cares for and about her. But Rosaleen’s life is far from simple, set to the backdrop of the civil rights movement, The Secret Life of Bee’s tells of Roselaeens struggle for acceptance in a hostile and angry world. When she gets into an arguement with some local men Rosaleen refuses to back down to heir prejudices resulting in her imprisonment. Lily decides she can no longer bear life in this town and so decides to escape but her life becomes inextricably linked with her friends when she decides she can’t go alone and breaks Rosaleen free from prison.

Fugitives on the run they find themselves on the doorstep of three eccentric sisters who run a family bee keeping business. In these most unusual of circumstances and against the odds both Rosaleen and Lily begin to experience the acceptance and love they have always craved. But whilst Rosaleen might think their arrival is purely random Lily knows that a powerful link binds her mother to the sisters.

Essentially this is a coming of age story charting a journey of survival and self discovery. It shows the various sides of human nature from hateful and spiteful to loving, warm and protective. It shows that love can be found in the most unexpected places.

I did sometimes find this book slightly predictable and on more than one occasions had the feeling of I’ve being here before’. This isn’t the first book of it’s kind and I’m sure it wont be the last but Kidd still manages to inject the story with touches of originality, particularly the interesting and unusual reference to the art of bee keeping.

However the most fresh and exciting element of the book was for me the idea of the divine female power that we all posses and the prevailing message of sisterhood. Each woman within the book has suffered her own personal struggle within her life and each has found strength from the other, but more importantly from the powerful, divine female within them all.

 ”‘You don’t have to have your hand on Mary’s hand to get strength and consolation and rescue, and all the other things we need to get through life,’ she said. ‘You can place it right here on your own heart. Your own heart.’”

The Secret Life of Bee’s is an easy, enjoyable read, perfect for when you want something that isn’t too demanding and instead crave a solid, well structured and above all else engaging story.

6/10

I began the month with The Particular Sadness of Lemon cake which I enjoyed despite it really not being my usual kind of book. I hadn’t given it too much thought after reading and reviewing it until a friend asked me my thoughts just the other day. It made me re-asses my feelings and realize just how much I’d liked this book in spite of the unusual and unpredictable turn that it took.

Next up was another book that I probably wouldn’t normally read, Ask The Dusk by John Fante. Thanks to a work colleague insisting I try it I was soon immersed in the wonderful world of Arturo Bandini, enjoying another novel set in the heart of L.A. A setting that doesn’t usually show up in the books I read but one that fascinates me.

I then read The Secret Life of bee’s which was given to me as a gift. I’m yet to post my review so I’ll remain quite hushed up on this one for now. Also I haven’t quite made up my mind on this book. I enjoyed it, in the momentt, but it was one of those books that once finished seems to vanish from your memory almost immediately.

And lastly a book I’m not likely to forget anytime soon is The Shadow of The Wind which I read just the other day as part of my book group. Again I’m yet to post my review but once I do I’m sure you’ll find I was enthralled by Zafon’s magical story  and the mesmerizing world he has created. I’ll also be posting the thoughts of my fellow book groupers. There will also be a small quiz posted on this book in the near future with a chance to win a free book. More details to follow shortly.

For now I don’t really have any solid reading plans other than reading The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks which I’ve finally managed to get a copy of from my local library. I’m also going to be reading Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay as part of a book blog tour, more details of that to come soon.

So what about everyone else? Read anything god this month? Got any plans for February? I’d love to hear what you’ve being up to reading wise.

Time is ticking

 Perhaps it’s through the discovery of other bloggers and their impressive ability to read at what seems to me a superhuman speed which has caused me to become so self-conscious? Either way I have recently become increasingly concerned with how much I’m reading and at what speed rather than what I am reading and if I’m enjoying it. Strange isn’t it? Surely reading should be carefree and relaxing? Does it really matter about much you read?

 These are the thoughts that I have being musing with since beginning my blog and so eventually I decided to give speed reading a chance. I’ll confess to high hopes because the idea of reading two books a week from my usual snail pace of one was very tempting.

 Initially I really struggled with ‘speed reading’, in life I’m known for analyzing situations and this seems to follow through when reading. Poetic prose and deep metaphors get my full attention and I can never move from one sentence to another without fully understanding the last. I suspected that it was this acute attention to detail that slowed me down so much and so I brought the subject up with my more swift friends.

The idea that I spent so much time trying to understand the full meaning of each sentence baffled my friends, ‘why waste so much time?’. But I’d always thought skipping through idea’s and sections that I didn’t comprehend was cheating?

 Forcing myself to give this ago I adopted the rule that if I read something that didn’t quite click for me the first time, I would re read it once, maybe twice and then move on regardless. My worry was that this would spoil my connection with the book and sully how strongly I bonded with the writer. Yet it in reality I learned that so long as I didn’t do it with every sentence I still managed to understand and appreciate the book. In fact a certain pressure was lifted and I enjoyed the book more from my own perspective instead of trying to figure out every little meaning of the writers.

Skipping the incomprehensible has definitely sped up my reading but only marginally, so I forced myself to plow through at an even faster rate and it was then that I started to notice a detachment to the books I was reading. When putting my book down for the night my first thought wasn’t ‘wow that was incredible’. No personal observations of the story sprung to mind. Instead it was ‘Ok I read 50 pages there, must read another 100 tomorrow and then 100 the day after and eureka that’s a book in 3days!!’. Brilliant but where is the emotional connection?

Currently I’m half way through both The Shadow of the Wind and The Secret Life of Bee’s and after a harried and rushed start I’m giving up on speed reading in favor of taking my time. It’s giving me reader’s indigestion. Books shouldn’t be rushed or forced in my opinion, they should be devoured as slowly as you like, taking your time to digest and absorb each delectable page.

 Off course that’s just me and a small part still envies those that can speed read but I’m giving up on that in order to try and get back to just enjoying books for what they are.

 So what about everyone else? Are you a fast reader, blasting through page after page at a super sonic pace? Or are you a slow reader who likes to take their time? Do you even care or does it just not factor into your mind? I’d love to hear how everyone else feels about it and whether or not you’ve changed your reading habits.

…Now back to those wonderful books.

1. What’s your favorite time of the day to read? – Well if I had my way it would be all day but work and other commitments make sure that doesn’t happen. So for me my favorite time to read is during those stolen unexpected moments when I get five minutes to myself and I can pull my book out and have a little bit of me time. Bliss.

2. Do you read during your breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.) – I don’t usually have breakfast, I’m in the habit of getting up five minutes before I need to leave the house, ops. I guess the equivalent would be the five minutes of reading I manage to do in the lift on the way to work. That’s all the morning reading I get.

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of the day.) – Like I said I don’t really eat much breakfast but if I had the time and it didn’t make me pile on the pounds then it would definitely be fried eggs, baked beans and bacon….mm this is making me hungry.

4. How many hours a day would you say you read? – Answering this question is really depressing because I want to say ten or fifteen hours and instead it’s a meager one hour a day during the week when I’m really busy, an hour and a half to two when I have less on. And maybe two or three hours a day on a Saturday and Sunday. I used to have so much more time on my hands to dedicate to reading but with work, college, and friends my time is really limited.

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago? – I definitely read more now than I did ten years ago. I would have been sixteen then and I had just joined college. Despite studying A level English Literature I was embarrassingly far more interested in boys and going out than reading books. I know I exasperated my teacher who wanted me to knuckle down and pay attention but like most teenagers my mind was else where. However it was the year I first read and loved nineteen eighty-four so not all bad.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader? – Definitely, definitely not! As much as I would love to put myself in this category (imagine how many more books I would read?) I am quite a slow reader I think. On average I’ll read a book a week which isn’t too bad considering I don’t have much time to read. I’ve tried speed reading but I find I don’t enjoy it as much. Rushing a book seems to equal missing big chunks out and losing some of the atmosphere. What do speedier readers think?

7. If you could have any superpower what would it be? – Easy I would fly. I always dream that I can, I dream it so vividly I wake up sure I should be able to fly. In fact I even remember a disastrous incident as a child waking up from said dream on the top of a bunk bed and trying to put my theory to the test. Result? Bad idea!

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go? Absolutely. I feel lost and panicky without a book as my companion, I even take on when I go to the supermarket so I can read in the queue.

9. What KIND of book? – Ah how do I answer that question? I really don’t have a type. I’ll read any genre in any format, hardback, paper back. Contemporary, classic, crime…pretty much anything but I’m not a huge chic lit fan.

10. How old were you when you got your first library card? – Mm I don’t really know the answer to that question. It was a long, long time ago. Maybe eight? My mam took me to the local library called The Green in our local village. It’s still there and it’s a charming, homely little place. It’s only small but the children’s section used to enthrall me. I remember being taken as a little girl and being enchanted by all the pictures and words and colors. It was one of my favorite places.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest Copyright?) – Ah tough question, I really don’t know. I don’t really look at copyright dates etc. I guess I’ll go with the book that has being in my collection longest and that would be George’s Marvelous medicine which I’ve had from childhood and which has survived years of my mam’s big clean outs.

12. Do you read in bed? – Definitely, bedtime is one of the few times I get to read uninterrupted. I do quickly get sleepy but even so I rarely go to sleep without reading a few lines in bed.

 13. Do you write in your books? – What a great question! I thought I was the only one who did this. I’m an old English lit student so writing in my books comes quite naturally from the days when I would write essays and need a point of reference. I don’t do it in every book but certainly one I’m reading for book group or just one I want to understand better.

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be? – Give everything a try, don’t discriminate because you might not yet know what you like! If you read something you don’t like don’t let it put you off, that happens to all readers. Take some time to go to your local library or book shop and just pursue the shelves. Something is bound to catch your eye, I believe books can take you on a magical journey and there’s a perfect book out there for everyone.

Thanks BTT for the brilliant questions.

Ask The Dust by John Fante is widely known as one of the most important and successful novels to emerge from American literature, and yet quiet extraordinarily it nearly slipped through the net. First published in 1939 the novel was poorly received getting little praise and almost falling out of print. But thanks to a chance discovery made by Charles Bukowski the book was re published and finally given the praise and attention it deserved. It’s fair to say the history of the book is almost as fascinating as the story itself.

The novel tells the story of struggling writer Arturo Bandini who has moved to L.A in pursuit of his dream of being a distinguished writer. Yet reality is a far cry from his dreams and he lives in a rundown hotel living scantily of orange zests. Much of the story is said to be semi autobiographical accounts of Fante’s own experiences thus adding heightened interest to the story.

After meeting a Mexican lady working in a bar Arturo becomes infatuated, Camilla Lopez becomes the object of his rather intense affection and a passionate love/hate relationship ensues in what is sometimes a beautiful and touching relationship and sometimes a far more ugly portrayal of love.

The novel is set to the backdrop of the Great Depression and Fante paints a vivid and harsh reality of the grubby and poorer side of L.A. He charts Arturo’s struggle with religion, identity and race, the hardships of making it in a country that boasts of richness and affluence, and off course dealing with unrequited love.

To define the novel as one subject in particular would be an injustice given just how much Fante manages to cover, but what really struck me in the novel was the actual character of Bandini and his vast wealth of feelings. He can at one moment be optimistic, focused, high-spirited and well-meaning. At another down hearted, dejected and misplaced. His little idiosyncracies make him incredibly fascinating and endearing. He is narcissisticand egocentric but is he likeable in his desperation to be liked, adored and revered as a writer.

I won’t spoil the full relationship that takes place between Arturo and Camilla but needless to say that although things did not evolve as I thought they would I was incredibly touched by how the novel ended and how the relationship concluded.

The novel is a little different to what I usually read but I’m really glad I gave it ago. I enjoyed sharing Arturo’s journey in L.A. with him, I found the glimpse of another life and world fascinating and compelling, and above all else the novel gave me plenty to think over and consider long after I finished the last delectable page.

Have you read Ask The Dust or read anything else by Fante? Perhaps you’ve seen the movie version of the book? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So when I recently visited the wonderful new restaurant 63 Degree’s in Manchester’s Northern Quarter I immediately wanted to tell anyone who would listen just how great it was. Not wanting to mention it here I was very thankful when SammyDee of Manchester Meanders invited me to do a guest blog and review it on her Manchester based site. A brilliant blog for anyone in or around Manchester, or even for people visiting the city and looking for new and exciting things to do. So thanks to SammyDee and thanks to anyone who chooses to stop by and read it.

On her ninth birthday Rose Edelstein is delighted to find that her mother has made her a chocolate lemon cake. Unable to resist she takes a slice whilst her mother sleeps only to find the cake tastes of loneliness and hunger; each morsel full of a crippling sadness that Rose quickly identifies as her own mothers feelings. From cookies that taste of anger to roast beef that reveals adultery Rose realizes she has a very special gift that allows her to taste a full and true range of emotions in all of the food she eats.

But for innocent nine-year old Rose the gift is more of a curse, she can’t bear the reality which it forces her to see of the life around her. She can’t avoid the truth of her mother’s life outside of the family home, or her distant fathers abstract attitude anymore than she can ignore he unreachable brother Joseph who constantly clashes with the world.

Unable to escape the feelings in all food Rose opts for the most generic man-made products she can find giving her a strange and painful relationship with her food and a detachment from the real world.

In her attempt to hold together the suffering and troubles of her family Rose seems to remain trapped in time as her friends and peers move on to college, work and marriage. This adds a heavy sadness to the story which develops as the novel wears on and Rose turns from little girl to adult. Thankfully the story still manages to flow naturally and beautifully and the sorrow of the story is broken up with light heart humour and moments of tenderness.

I often struggle with magic realism, not because I don’t like it, far from it, but the writing has to be such that I can accept and digest the unrealistic things that are happening without becoming distracted from the story at hand. With Bender it is so explicit what is magical and what is real that I found it easier to accept the bizarre moments of the book.

Yet not everyone seems quite as comfortable with the story and after reading other reviews it’s become clear that The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake has really split opinions and left some readers with a bitter taste in their mouths. Given that I really enjoyed the book it’s hard to understand why others might not have found it so pleasing.

 The book certainly didn’t go in the direction I expected it to and there were times when I wished she had followed a different course. Rose’s gift seems to cripple and block many aspects of her life which I did at times find frustrating. The gift surely could have been just that a gift, an opportunity to help people, to bind her family back together. But then Bender seems to be telling her readers that some family divides cannot be healed, and some differences will mark us indefinitely. Ultimately it is how Rose acts upon her gift which create such an interesting story.

Bender uses this extraordinary metaphor to explore all of the complexities of family lives, the coming of age troubles that we all face, and the way our ultimate loss of innocence creates great divides between our younger selves and who we inevitably become.

For the beautiful message at the heart of the book and for Bender’s unwavering honesty  I have to praise and respect this book. It wasn’t what I thought it would be but in many ways that allowed it to be better.

Love or hate this book I think The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is well worth the read if you like books that intimately explore human nature, the relationships we form and how a families past can mark a person’s future.

7/10

Firstly Happy Belated New Year to you all! I hope 2012 started well for everyone and you all enjoyed the festive period whatever you did. I had a great New Year, hence why my blog has probably being a little quiet this past week, but also as I’ve spent the last few days enjoying everyone else’s blogs and their New Year updates. It’s being great to hear what other bloggers have been doing over Christmas, what books they’ve read and received, the ones they plan to read in 2012 and their favorites of the year.

I’ve already blogged my favorite books for 2011 but that was before I read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and now I must say that this is firmly up there on my list of top reads for the year. I’ve also started listing the books I plan to read in 2012 but given there are so many appealing new books due for release I fear my TBR list is never ending and am trying to refrain from adding too many more.

So I thought I would do a quick little blog today reflecting instead on what has essentially being my first blogging experience. I started blogging in March after meeting Simon from Savidge Reads who allured me into blogging world by introducing me to his wonderful site and many others.

I then decided to set up I hug my books and for anyone following me in my early days you may know I had the somewhat embarrassing incident of accidentally naming my blog I hug my bogs. Marginally more funny given my name is Lou, this particular incident at least has the one bonus of making people chuckle when I tell them all about it. Oh well at least I wont ever forget how it all began.

 I soon got into the swing of the blogging though and found it ridiculously addictive, there’s something cathartic about reading a book and then jotting down your thoughts. From here I made some really great friends through my book group; a by product of I hug my books. Since our first meet in June we’ve developed a nice steady stream of book lovers who enjoy meeting once a month to catch up and talk about the current books were reading. Were a Manchester based book group and are still welcoming any new members who want to join us. Do check out the page if you think you might be interested.

As the year progressed I became more comfortable in my blogging and developed a taste for what it is I most enjoy writing. I think I’ll always enjoy reviews first and foremost. They are the reason I began blogging and remain the most challenging but rewarding part of the blog. I like having one concrete place where I can visit my own thoughts and secretly I hope that other readers might stumble upon my blog and find what I’ve written helpful or even persuasive.

One pleasant surprise was the brilliant and sometimes genius meme’s that other bloggers come up with, two of my favorites where Cornflower books ‘A Bit of Silliness’ and Simon from Stuck in a Book’s One Book, Two Books, Three Book, Four and Five. Both great ways to re cap on what I was reading or planning to read.

Other blogs that I’ve loved visiting are Tiny Library, The Book Jotter, Fleur Fisher, A Stripped Armchair, Manchester’s Artistic Son, and Manchester Meanders. Thanks to all those blogs for providing great information and intersting posts. I look forward to reading more of your stuff in the coming New Year.

I don’t have any definitive plans for my blog this year, I just hope to keep enjoying the experience, hopefully discover some more like minded bloggers and maintain a place where I can chat to other book lovers about their reading experiences.

I hope everyone else had a great year and read some great books. I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you all full. And thanks for stopping by.