Recent Reads V

Monday 6 January 2014


Most of the time, I read on my Kindle which has been a godsend while living abroad but Joe reads books the old fashioned way.  Our reading tastes are slightly different and where I devour books, he'll often linger in one for months, reading a few pages a night.  If there's a novel that I think both of us will enjoy, I'll buy the physical edition as I know I won't be able to give up my Kindle for the amount of time Joe will need it.  This fall I decided instead of buying more books, I'd make time for those that were stacking up at home.


And The Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini
I've been a Hosseini fan since reading The Kite Runner years ago and have been anxiously awaiting this next novel.  It did not disappoint.  Again, the story takes place in Afghanistan beginning with a poor villager making the difficult decision to give away his daughter in order to survive.  The story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking and I'll leave it at that as I don't want to give anything away.  Definitely add this to the Must-Read list.

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Joe picked up this book in Vancouver just before catching our flight back to Norway after Christmas 2012.  The author is Swedish and after reading the Stieg Larsson series and the setting being close to our physical home, he was intrigued.

The main character, Allan Karlsson, is a recent centenarian who is tired of his confined life in an senior home so, like the title, he climbs out the window and disappears.  His story weaves back and forth between present day and his larger than life, life.  In fact, this is a story of Big Fish proportions as he finds himself rubbing shoulders with Mao, Stalin and Truman due to his knowledge of explosives.  The book was a little slow to start for me but the dry sense of humour and the mix of real historical events was really quite clever.

Inferno by Dan Brown
Meh.  Ages ago, I read DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons and I suppose Inferno follows suit.  It's a page turner coupled with real life European cities, art, symbols and locations with a little history thrown in for good measure.  Like the other novels, we follow Robert Langdon as he frantically tries to save the world… literally.  I didn't hate the book but by the time I finished it, I was over it, particularly as it culminated.  I felt like I could poke a million holes in this plot and I found myself shaking my head muttering, "What?" on more than one occasion.

Eve in Hollywood by Amor Towles
Having loved Rules of Civility, I quickly vowed to read this novella after Jess recommended it.  The story picks up with Eve on a train heading out of New York City and through the people she encounters from there on, we get an idea as to how life progressed for her in after her departure from Rules.  This was a pretty quick read and it really left me wanting more - in fact, I was sort of sad when it seemed to abruptly come to an end as I felt there was so much more to Eve's story just waiting to be told.  But, for those of you who really loved Rules of Civility, this may satisfy your questions about what became of Eve.


Currently Reading…

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Sara from Le Petit Village recommended this one awhile ago and it's been on my to-read list ever since.  I'm just about finished it and have already caught myself searching online for a potential trip later this year.

What are you reading?

Check out past editions of Recent Reads here.

17 comments:

  1. I started Inferno this past Summer, got half way through and didn't even bother finishing it. Not his best.

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  2. I loved And The Mountains Echoed!! It seems that Hosseini gets better with each book!! I kind of feel the same way about Dan Brown. I feel myself skipping over paragraphs trying to get past all the fluff and get to the point.

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  3. I love your book posts, I always find myself adding new items to my 'to read' list.

    One of the most interesting books I read in 2013 was 'The Reason I Jump', in which a 13-year-old Japanese boy with autism writes about how he thinks, why he does certain things, etc. His insights are amazing, especially considering the difficultly he has with verbal communication. A distant relative is the only personal connection I have to autism, but it gave me a renewed sense of compassion and admiration for people who face autism day in and day out.

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    1. Someone recommended that book to me awhile back. I have it on my Wishlist. Have you read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - a really brilliant book also from the perspective of an autistic boy?

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  4. If you liked A Year in Provence than you'd love Le Petit Village, and I don't mean the blog, I mean the place. Even though the book is well over twenty years old now, the characters are still very real and very much the same :)

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  5. I didn't realize Hosseini had another one out! I'll have to give it a look!
    I'm currently on a classics drive, so recently read War & Peace and The Great Gatsby, and enjoying Moby Dick at the moment. Kindles are just the dream for old books, they're all free!

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    1. The Kindle is excellent for classics, you're right! I often get sidetracked by newer novels but I should really go through and add some classics to my list.

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  6. Hi Jay,
    You really didnt like Inferno. Maybe because ive been stuck at home for a week, but i finished it in no time and really appreciated it.
    Now im reading Before I go to sleep but started off strong but now... I dont know..

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    1. Well I finished it so there's that! I suppose I just found it (particularly from the halfway point on) so unbelievable and the twists and turns weren't adding up.

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  7. I just finished Gone Girl & Where'd You Go Bernadette. Both were great reads! I am currently reading Where We Belong by Emily Griffin with plans to read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn next.

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  8. Gah, Inferno. The Da Vinci Code riveted me as a kid (dating myself) before I knew anything about art history. I almost considered not finishing Inferno, but made myself because I can't stand a half finished book.

    I'm currently reading Life Class: A collection of Diana Athill's four memoirs, and it is wonderful. I was inspired to track it down by an interview I heard with Diana Athill on Eleanor Wachtel's Writers and Company on CBC years and years ago. She's as interesting on the radio as she is on the page.

    Life Class is the most beautiful, charming, pure memoir of the life of a (complicated) woman working in publishing in England. I highly recommend it, and I'm only 100 pages in.

    Adding And the Mountains Echoed to my list! Thanks!

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    1. I was also riveted by The Da Vinci Code as a young adult (also dating myself as older than you) but I think it might have been because of the controversy around it.

      Adding Life Class to my wish list.

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  9. you're inspiring me to start reading the huge stack of books on my nightstand that I've somehow been avoiding. a few in my pile: virgin suicides & lost in translation.

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  10. Aha. I've been thinking about starting both the Hosseni and Brown book..... and after reading your thoughts I think I'll just stick to And the Mountains Echoed. Not sure I could stomach another Robert Langdon story myself!

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    1. Yes, definitely pick up the Hosseini book but if you're already sort of over Langdon, it's best to skip this one!

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  11. The Hundred Year Old Man is one I've been intrigued to read for a while and sounds a lot like another one I read about before but can't remember the name of now...

    Anyway, I am the same with my Kindle too. I had to make my partner Dan get a cheap tablet as I couldn't handle him borrowing mine!

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  12. i'm so sad how little reading i've done in the last few months. european life was so much better for reading often.

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