You're in Clare Country!

"The Last Anniversary" & "The Three Wishes" - a book review

I found another Australian author I love!  Liane Moriarty - such a gifted storyteller!  I thoroughly recommend any of her first 2 novels (so far), particularly "The Last Anniversary" which relates the history of 2 sisters, the mysterious disappearance of the 2 tenants in they house they rented out, & the baby the tenants left behind.  It's a funny & compassionate read, with pockets of suspense as the mystery unravels. 

"The Three Wishes" is just as funny & touching, detailing the (mis)adventures of a family of triplets, unaware of the impact they have on everyone around them.  The thing I love about these stories is the absence of saccharine sentimentality which chicklit tends to ooze when authors become sloppy.  The ending is never necessarily happy, nor an ending - but enough to give the reader clues that imply the development of the characters.  This progress in itself provides closure in the sense that the reader is left believing that the stagnancy of the characters at the start of the book has been overcome & opportunity (where success & failure fuel each other) is born.

Image of "The Last Anniversary" cover from Harper Collins website.

Image of "The Three Wishes" cover from Harper Collins website.

"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand - a review

This has become one of my favourite books of all time!  It's based on the premise that being selfish is Mankind's only route to progress, development & redemption.  To be selfless is to Society's detriment because being selfless is defined as being unoriginal, not injecting your own personal self or sense of uniqueness to anything you do, to rob any action of the SELF.  It encourages the idea of original thought & being brave to do what you want to do, not be dictated by convention or social mores, not to be counted as a 'second-hand soul.'  The merits of this theory is conveyed by the trials & tribulations of the hero, Howard Roark, his arch nemesis, Peter Keating, and the heroine, Dominique Francon.  What I remember most about the book was its unpredictability.  Because certain characters consistently behaved true to themselves & not what society dictates, I was constantly surprised by their actions, words and adventures, proving contrary to predictable plot forecasts.  Is that more an indictment on how my own mind has been conditioned to social mores?  I hope not!  I strongly recommend this book to anyone deeply interested in the possibility of escaping convention & social conditioning despite Life.

Picture originally uploaded by ayn-rand.com

Osama is the new Wally

What do you get an American president who has everything?  Why not a little book I stumbled across in Dymocks called, "Where's Bin Laden?"  It certainly complies with his reading age!  Not only does Osama hide within the colourful glossy pages but you can also look for his henchmen (which strangely resemble the 7 dwarfs in Middle Eastern attire) and secret service people.  It's pretty tough.  I couldn't locate Osama in any of the pages (slippery little fellow!) but I found a few of his henchmen and secret service people.

"I Told You I Was Sick" - a book review

I was browsing in Dymocks the other day & found a funny little book called "I Told You I Was Sick: a Grave Book of Curious Epitaphs," by Nigel Rees.  Rees travelled the world 'grubbing in churchyards' & collected 150 interesting epitaphs.  Some such interesting ones read:

"Here Lies the body of
Martha Dias,
Who was always uneasy,
and not over pious.
She liv'd to the age of
Threescore and ten,
And gave that to the worms
She refus'd to the men."

"John Edwards
who perished in
a fire 1904.
None could hold
a candle to him."

"Jonathan Grober
Died dead sober.
Lord thy wonders never cease."

"In joyous memory of
George Jones
who was president of
the Newport Rifle Club
for twenty years.
'Always missed'."

"Here lies the body of Mary,
wife of John Jones of this parish.
Here lies Martha,
wife of John Jones of this parish.
Here lies the body of Jane,
wife of John Jones of this parish.
John Jones.  At rest."

Picture originally uploaded by Orion Books.

Sylvia Plath's "Ennui" Uncovered

51 years after it was written & 43 years after the author committed suicide at age 31, the poem Ennui, written by one of my favourite poets, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), was uncovered at Indiana University.  Throughout the poem, Plath derides believers of life holding great promise, adventure and mystery.  Plath didn't believe life was romantic nor dramatic (despite being an acclaimed poet & novelist, with beauty & brains, married to the famous poet Ted Hughes and having a baby son & daughter).  8 years later, she stuck her head in a gas oven, her 3rd suicide attempt.  Such a brilliant but tortured mind!  The reason why I'm drawn to her poetry is because of the words she uses to convey her message.  There is a deliberate-ness in every word, how she styles it & combines it with other words, etc.  There is always a connection to something that happened in her life, e.g. her despair at her father dying when she was 8, her anger towards her womanising husband who left her for another woman (who ironically also committed suicide by gas & killed the daughter she shared with Hughes), her torment from mental illness, etc.  Read about Plath's life here.  It's a fascinating read, especially their first impressions of each other when they met (she bit him on the cheek).

Picture of Hughes & Plath originally uploaded by Snitfit.

The One That Got Away - a book review

One good thing about being sick with a cold (apart from Ravi & Captain Booger Features being my hands in changing tv channels & my legs in getting my dinner & hot drinks) is being able to indulge in my literary interests.  Watching dvds & reading - the best medicine.  I just finished "The One That Got Away" by Lee Robert Schreiber.  When I found this in a second-hand bookstore the blurb got me hooked right away:

"Have you ever Googled an ex?  Ever wondered what happened to the first, the truest &/or the greatest love of your life?  have you ever considered how that person would respond if & when you did contact (let's say) her today?  With dismissive laughter?  A restraining order?  Tears of joy?"

Not that I can relate.  I'm with my 'one' now.  But it certainly piqued my interest.  The book is based on Schreiber's real-life search for his true love who he broke up with 25 years ago.  All of his relationships since then have never amounted to the same depth of feeling & connection he felt with 'Sarah.'  Needless to say, he finds Sarah through pure chance (a sign from the gods, he wonders).  A must-read if you've ever wondered what if . . . .

Picture originally uploaded by femail.com.au

Happy Birthday, Tweety!

Ravi, Captain Booger Features & I met up with Thuy for her birthday yesterday.  Over coffee & cake we caught up since she came back from Japan.  We also gave her a present - an A3-sized hardcover photography book "4 Inches."  With the foreword written by Elton John, it is a collection of large glossy photos, some b/w, some colour, of models & actresses in artistic poses, wearing nothing but Jimmy Choo shoes.  Subjects were Elle MacPherson (pictured), Christina Aguilara, Serena Williams, Iman, Nicky Hilton, Paris Hilton, Rebecca Romijn, Anne Heche, Heidi Klum, Pamela Anderson, Victoria Beckham, and so on.  It was made for a fundraiser & has since gone out of print.  Great coffee table book.  Now all Thuy needs to get is a coffee table!

Picture originally uploaded by The Secret Life of Shoes.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven - a book review

A thought-provoking novel by Mitch Albom, author of the international bestseller "Tuesdays With Morrie."  I loved the premise of T5PYMIH - when you die, 5 people who had impacted on your life significantly visit you & pass on a message (each one different) to help you understand your life & why things happened they way they did.  These people could be loved ones or strangers.  But they had to have changed the course of your life irrevocably.  The novel follows the death & afterlife of an 83-year-old man.  His encounter with his 5 people takes the reader through the major events in his life, although for some of the events he did not recognise their significance until his visits from his 5 people.  It is moving, surprising & comforting.  It is a great read for anyone who ever believes that they are wasting their life or that certain events have ruined what they had dreamed for themselves.  Albom believes that "This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life.  To have it explained.  It is the peace you have been searching for."  The book underlines the idea that "No life is a waste . . . . The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone." Ultimately the book reaffirms my belief that no acts are random.  We are all interconnected with each other.  The decisions we make impact on everyone, as does the decisions of others, even complete strangers from different epochs in time, affects us.

The book got me thinking about who my 5 people who illuminated my life significantly would be, in heaven, waiting for me, queuing to give me their individual message to help me understand the way my life turned out.  How about you?  Who do you think would be waiting for you in heaven, to tell you how they impacted your life & to make sense of the sacrifices you made or others made for you?

Picture originally uploaded by albomfivepeople.com.

When All You Can Do Is Wash Your Hands

Last Tuesday on the public holiday (ANZAC Day), Captain Booger Features, Ravi & I went to the Newtown 2nd hand bookstore to stock up on new reading material.  As we approached the checkout counter laden with 13 books between the 3 of us, the captain picked up a book titled "The Howard Years" with a picture of Australian Prime Minister John Howard attempting (in vain) to look like a leader-type (that is, larger than life) on the cover.  Captain Booger Features said, "What about this one, Mummy?" Horrified, I retorted, "Drop that book now & wash your hands!"  Even the old guy behind the counter looked on in amusement & uttered, "Now that's a worry."

Picture originally uploaded by University of NSW.

Spellbound - a review

The book certainly weaved its magic on me.  I hated having to put the book down because of life's obligations & distractions.  I love it when that happens, when you find a great book, so engaging that you could read its pages for hours on end.  "Spellbound"  by Jane Green follows the adventures of a young woman called Alice.  It describes her early years, as a caterer, her years of courtship & marriage to the dashing & ambitious Joe, and her coninuous attempts tp give Joe the fantasy he wanted - by dying her mousy brown hair blond, straightening her unruly curls, losing heaps of weight, etc.  It follows the decline of her marriage, the late night phone calls from Joe saying he had to work late that night & most nights, the unexplained phone hang-ups, Joe's inability to answer both his work line & his mobile at 3am (even though he had promised to be at home early).  From our objective perspective, it is easy to pick up on the signs of a philanderer in da house, but from Alice's perspective the reader believes all the excuses she gives to feed her denial.  All the characters are engaging & evoke sympathy.  I highly recommend it  :)

Cover image originally uploaded by The Penguin Group (Australia).