Between Shades of Gray

My students are taking over the blog! This post is written by my dear Alexandra, aka The Pianist Butterfly :) 

The book is written by Ruta Sepetys, who was born and raised in Michigan, in a family of artists, readers and music lovers. She was born on November 19^th 1967. Her first novel, “Between Shades of Gray”, about the Genocide of Baltic people after the Sovietic occupation, was critically acclaimed and translated into over 22 different languages.

I found this book on a rainy day in November. It was just as if she was calling my name hidden between hundreds and hundreds of books from the shelves. So, when I took it, I felt that a new world is about to be born in my hands; a world made of words, simple words which built a story of hope and love. Love above all.

The voice of a young girl breaks the silence of history. Lina is a fifteen year old teenager who lives in Lithuania with her parents and her younger brother, Jonas. But one night, when some frightening bangs threaten their door, their life is about to change forever. Lina, Jonas and her mother, Elena are evacuated from the house. The secret police arrest them. They are dragged in cattle vans. Soon, they discover that their destination is Siberia. What happens next? The story describes a page of history. A page full of despair, screams, cruelty and death. But, in between the lines, some hope and shy courage sneak in Lina’s heart. She fights for Jonas even if their mother dies.

The story shows that love, even if it sounds trivial, love will overcome. Always. Nobody says that there will be no scratches, wounds and tears. Bu all these make a worthy victory. And Lina takes all those risks to win the victory against death and war in the end.

Women Writers - January 2015

This month I came across some quite interesting books, very different one from the other.

I discovered Jenny McCarthy while is high school and she was hosting some shows on MTV. I didn't like her back then because I thought she was just a dumb blonde. Then, while she was dating Jim Carrey I watched her in some interviews and realized she actually has a brain and is not afraid to use it. I was touched by her story and the fact that her son had autism and years later, "Love, Lust & Faking it" has dropped into my virtual hands... The book is a bit naught, just like her nature, lots of fun (you must love the episode in which she meets Brad Pitt, or does she... ) and how strong she can be when it comes to expressing herself no matter the obstacles or the entourage. it is a light book that still has some seriousness to it: you are responsible for your own happiness and the compromises you make. Click here for a lighthearted interview with the writer herself.

"You can create an exceptional life" was written by the famous Louise Hay, whose books I appreciate quite a lot, for being so helpful in my understanding of how things work and how you can stay positive no matter what. I follow her posts and I plan on finishing reading all her books this year, so you may call me one of her fans :) This book is written together with one of her disciples, Cheryl Richardson and you can listen to a short interview about the book here. 

How ironic to find two books whose titles are switched. After having read Murakami's "The Men without Women", I came across Parsipur's "Women without Men" (1989), a novella about five different women from Iran whose faith is defined by the men who are, were or will be present in their lives but also by the garden they share from time to time. It is a daring book, banned in Iran and one that placed its writer in jail back when it was written, but for us, the one who are free to read and discuss it, it is a special book which mixes tragic events with a magical realism that has impressed me a lot. The beautiful image of the woman transforming herself into seeds one summer will surely remain with me for quite some time.

All these books read for my pleasure and for The Women Challenge 2015 :)

World Book Day 2014

Literary Quizzes, Book presentations and Reading Trees, all happening now at my school! :) 
More HERE. 

A New Year, a New Challenge

This seemed like the natural thing to do, tackle a new reading challenge that is really up my alley: books written by women. Since I read 23 books written by female authors last year and most of them were quite revelatory, I decided to go for level 2 of the challenge, GIRLS POWER, and read between 6 and 15 books. It is quite doable, don't you think? Click on the image on the right side to find out more about the challenge. Do you tend to read books by female authors? 

My Reading Challenges - September 2013

Having spent the month of August reading whatever my mind fancied, and it did fancy quite a lot of books, this September I am back to face three of the reading challenges I subscribed to:
I will be reading Dan Puric's "Cine suntem" (Who we are) and "The Easiest Way to Live" for Birgit's Non - Fiction Challenge, which I am proud to say that it is going smashing, with 15 books read so far;
Osamu Dazai's "Setting Sun" is meant both for Bellezza's Japanese Literature Challenge and New Authors Challenge, as is "The Girl with Glass Feet" which I have been planning to read for quite some time.

Happy Reading and Bonne Rentree!

What my Favorite Writer Is Reading...

Have you ever wondered what your favorite writers are reading? I have, and weeks ago Jeanette Winterson wrote about what she recommended as some of the best releases of this year. All five are memoirs and this was quite foreseeable mainly because Jeanette herself wrote a wonderful memoir two years ago - Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - and I am sure she wanted to check if others are better at this :) Jeanette, without doubt yours is the best :)
I checked what the five books are all about and there are two that I may think about reading somewhere in the future: "She Left Me the Gun" and "A Fort of Nine Towers". The rest don't seem to intrigue me...

The Wave A profoundly moving, piercingly frank memoir of learning to live with grief--that begins in Sri Lanka on Dec. 26, 2004, when the author lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived.
A Fort of Nine Towers A young Afghan man's searing and redemptive memoir of his family and country. Omar survived imprisonment and opened a secret carpet factory to provide work for girls who were forbidden to go to leave their homes. Inflected with folktales, steeped in poetry, this book is a life-affirming triumph.
Bad Boy Renowned American artist Fischl has written a penetrating, often searing exploration of his coming of age as an artist, and his search for a fresh narrative style in the highly charged and competitive New York art world in the 1970s and 1980s.
She Left Me the Gun When Emma Brockes was ten years old, her mother said 'One day I will tell you the story of my life and you will be amazed.' Growing up in a tranquil English village, Emma knew very little of her mother's life before her. She knew Paula had grown up in South Africa and had seven siblings.
I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp The sharp, lyrical, and no-holds-barred memoir of the iconoclastic writer and musician--progenitor of American and British punk rock--which charts the coming of age of an artist and an indelible era in rock & roll history.

Manuscript Found in Accra (or How to Fight the Best Fight)

You already know how much I appreciate Paulo Coelho's writing and now you can see those are not just simple words :)

This is my review for the French Publishing House Flammarion who kindly offered to me the French edition. In a nutshell, I consider the Manuscript as good as The Alchemist, with the advantage that it does not follow an actual plot and it can be read whenever one feels that they lack courage or determination... A perfect book to gift any friend... or foe :) 

“Combats le bon combat de la foi” (1 Timothee 6:12)

Pour ceux qui lisent constamment les livres de Paulo Coelho, etre fidele aux desirs qu’on puisse avoir est un leitmotiv qui ne demande pas trop d’explications. Coelho reste fidele a son desir d’ecrire un livre tous les deux ans, un livre qui puisse changer le monde, le rendre meilleur, meme si ce desir puisse paraitre un peu desuete. Et encore une fois l’ecrivain y parvient, par des mots simples mais prestigieux, car la verite ne devrait jamais etre trop compliquee.

“Le Manuscrit retouve” est un livre qui presente les valeurs importantes que la vie nous offre a la fin d’un combat avec nous meme, avec les autres, avec les prejudges de la societe ou on vit. “Le Manuscrit” est un livre qu’on puisse relire quand le combat est trop dur, quand on doute tout autour de nous, quand tout nous semble difficile, quand on a peur de l’echec ou du changement, quand on aime mais on ne recoit pas de l’amour en echange.

“Sois toi-meme” nous dit Coelho, et “ceci devrait etre suffisant.” “Aime, parce que tout autre chose est silence.” Est-ce qu’il y a des mots plus vrais que ceux-ci? 

Dan Puric (or How to Speak Beautifully about Your Past)

 If you come from Romania, then you are bound to have heard and even admired Dan Puric. However, this post is not about his great talents as an actor, it is about how beautifully he can talk when it comes to his and our past, us as a nation, his family and his torments.
Last month I had the chance of meeting him, hearing him speak about Romanian martyrs and the Romanian church along the years, and because I am a lucky person after all, I managed to steal two autographs on his two (out of three) books. Oh, and he also wished me Happy Birthday :)
Dan Puric is an exceptional person and I am glad we have already realized that, taking into account how many people were present for his talk and how crowded the grand ballroom at Metropolis seemed before he entered. And because nothing could speak better about his nature than his own words, here are a few quotes from his most recent book, "Be Dignified!" which I tried to translate without omitting their poetic side:

"I truly believe that people who understand life in its depth cannot be too cheerful."
"What's with some memories that cannot be forgotten? Maybe they are pieces of a soul that accompany us forever..."
"After all, what is friendship but that wonderful honor of our soul in which truth can rest."
"Not everything that you have lived has the right to become a memory."
" Then, growing up, I gave to them, to those that looked at me from beyond the fence, my soul. And they rolled it around in the dust of life and gave it back to me, squashed, beaten and lifeless. I sadly took my own soul into my arms and caressed it. Then, when it would heal, it would leave me smiling and throw itself naively into the longing arms of those around. And again, smashed by the cheerful yet unknown waves of life, it would lie tired at my feet, telling me it was for the last time. Since then, I have been burying and digging out my own soulful flight just like a curse." 

You can watch a wonderful interview with Dan Puric here.

My Reading Challenges - June 2013

June looks like a good month for doing some meaningful reading while sipping lemonade under the shade (well, a girl can dream now, can't she? :))
Bellezza will be hosting her Japanese Literature Challenge and I will join in, since I can't really stay away from that, so I have already started reading "Out" by Natsuo Kirino, which seems like an excellent thriller, the type that you cannot put aside, even if it is 3 am.
Also, I will indulge in some non-fiction books for Birgit's Challenge, and I have in mind, among others, Lenoir's "Petit Traite de Vie Interieure" (Short Treatise on Inner Life).
I am also looking forward to Shafak's "Bastard of Istanbul" mainly because I really enjoyed all the books I have read and which she penned.
Last but not least, I hope to be able to read "The Einstein Girl" by Philip Sington, for the New Authors Challenge. The subject is quite intriguing and it seems like the perfect book to start my holiday with.
Happy Reading to all!

5 Books That Changed My Life

Today, Paulo Coelho, one of my all time favorite writers, asked his readers to name the five books that changed their lives. So, how could I not have complied with his request? :)
Here are my FOUR books that really changed life as I see it, and it is only four because I always leave room for more surprising books that may come along...

Do you have any books that changed your life? :)

Audition - Six Word Sum Up

 Japanese literature is great, but Ryu Murakami's books are fantastic, as in mind altering and I can't really name another author who kept me at the edge of every page with every single book I read. "Audition" is tagged as a horror story, but you only discover this in the last twenty pages or so, the tension and the mystery surrounding the female character building up till the moment when you realize that nothing is what it seems, including beautiful young ex-ballerinas...

Lying makes you discover troubled women.

"What husband has never speculated how free he might feel if his wife were suddenly out of the picture? And how many count the days till she takes the kids off for a week with her folks? Let these men actually lose their wives, however, and few can even summon the will or energy to run wild; it’s only then that they recognise the support system they’ve been taking for granted. When Aoyama lost Ryoko he became mired in feelings of utter powerlessness."

"Silhouetted against the off-white walls, she walked to the chair, bowed with modest grace and sat down. That was all, but Aoyama had a very distinct sensation that something extraordinary was happening all around him. It was like being the millionth visitor to an amusement park, suddenly bathed in spotlights and a rain of balloons and surrounded with microphones and flashing cameras. As if Luck, normally dispersed in billions of tiny, freefloating, gemlike particles, had suddenly coalesced in a single beatific vision – a vision that changed everything, for ever. He was aware of an indescribable, fizzy sort of feeling in the pit of his stomach, and of the voice of Reason in his own head chanting the refrain:This can’t be right, it doesn’t make sense, things like this aren’t supposed to happen. But the voice grew weaker as the fizziness seeped into his bloodstream and spread through his system."

The Guardian offers a great review here and you can also watch the trailer for the movie based on the same book, that is if creepy movies do not scare you :)  

Caitlin who? Caitlin Moran, the feminist :)

Thanks to my lovely friend Birgit, I managed to read Moran's second book, "Moranthology", after reading her bestseller "How to be a woman", which I totally loved and not just because she praises Madonna as an iconic figure. Her two books are incredibly funny and in "Moranthology" I especially loved her insights into issues that we may be familiar with: being poor, living in caravans, smoking marijuana, Michael Jackson's funeral or squirrels' testicles :)) What I didn't enjoy that much in "Moranthology" were the topics that did not ring any bell to me, or the one which she also talked about in her previous book, her crazy rendez-vous in Berlin, with lady gaga... Still, the book made me laugh and it will certainly make you, if you still think you have a sense of humour :)
Here are some quotes from "Moranthology":
 "So here I am, the next day, in London. Getting off the coach at Victoria Station wearing a gigantic hat - to make me look thinner - and carrying a lemon sponge in a suitcase. If I carry the suitcase by the handle, the cake will tip on the side - so I am carrying it flat, like a tray, in both hands. The time is 11.15am. I am due at the Observer offices, in Battersea, at 12.30pm. ' Just enough time to go to the British Museum and Buckingham Palace!' I think, having looked at the tiny map of London I have in my pocket. I am keen that this journey to London will mix business with pleasure - perhaps to create a new thing, 'plizness'. I set off, carrying my suitcase out in front of me, like a crown on a pillow." 
 A conversation between husband and wife:
"Me, happily: I am happy now. Bear and Puffin. That is us. We are Bear and Puffin. Good night, Bear.'
Pete: 'Good night.'
Me, eventually: 'Puffin.'
Pete: 'What?'
Me: 'Good night, Puffin. Say, "Good night, Puffin".'
Pete: 'Good night, Puffin. You demented f**king bitch."

You can also spend five minutes with her, in s short BBC interview.

Cards received from friends afar :)

You may remember about my participation in the Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange. I guess I live on a different planet and I was beginning to worry, but the card from my partner in crime, Bellezza, is finally here. And, because people simply love me, I also got one from Rikki :) What a lovely surprise from both of them. Bellezza sent me the wonderful geisha bookmark (we do share our love for Japanese culture and literature) and a funny Christmas card, and Rikki surprised me with a monthly calendar in the form of bookmarks and a homemade card. Now, all I need are the books and the time. The friends are already here :) Thank you!

My Challenges in 2012

2012 meant 10 Reading Challenges and a lot of great books and authors that I discovered. The 71 books read during what was supposed to be a very busy year made me realize that keeping track and getting involved in challenges is a highly positive thing. I simply loved reading Japanese literature and I will continue to do so in 2013. I am also looking forward to Venice in February Reading Challenge hosted by Bellezza and myself and I am optimistic I will be reading more than two books for Birgit's Tea and Books challenge.

Here is a glimpse of my 2012 in books:

1. Best book I read: The Museum of Innocence (Orhan Pamuk)

2. Book I was excited about and thought I was going to love more but I didn't: The Daylight Gate (Jeanette Winterson)

3. Most surprising book: Soni (Andrei Ruse)

4. Favorite new author of 2012: David Foenkinos

5. Book I recommended the most: Manuscript Found in Accra (Paulo Coelho)

6. Most thrilling book: Piercing (Ryu Murakami)

7. A book I will definitely enjoy re-reading soon: The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)

8. Favorite cover book: Furious Love (Sam Kashner)

 9. Favorite quote from a book read in 2012: Nothing to Be Frightened of (Julian Barnes)
 “When we fall in love, we hope - both egotistically and altruistically - that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does not always bring approval: being seen may just as well lead to a thumbs-down and a season in hell.”

10. Worst book: Fear and Trembling (Amelie Nothomb)

Post inspired by Elena.

What Should I Read Next?

Let's imagine that we do not have those piles of books under the "I will read those next month or next summer" headings and we have just finished a book we enjoyed without knowing what to read next (I really doubt that could happen soon) but let's just pretend... How could we find something similar to what we have read, imagining that we would like to read a different author, and not the one whose book we finished... Clever people thought about this and this wonderful site was created, WHAT SHOULD I READ NEXT?, which can recommend you different books based on your reading(s). You can also create lists, share them or even buy those books from Amazon. Is there anything else missing? let me know :)

P.S. Unlike The Book Seer which cannot offer any recommendations and tells me that I should stop reading books (loool), What Should I Read Next? actually works :)

Soni - Six Word Sum Up

 Once every few months I come across a book written by a Romanian author which really, and I mean really amazes me. I wish this had been translated into English so maybe you could grasp the reason why I am so thrilled about Andrei Ruse's "Soni". The book was written in 2008 and in September 2012 the third edition appeared, with a few changes (for the better) in the story line, a better publishing house and even more publicity around it, moving from being a controversial book (due to its sex scenes and the use of drugs) to one meant to change your perspective on life.
"Soni" is a book about a 26 year old girl who finds out she has stomach cancer. Needless to say that she goes through all these stages of fear, rage and bad decisions in order to get to the "other side". Which other side? I won't spoil it for you so you'll have to read the book... but be prepared for everything good and bad in-between the covers.

"On our first day at school we should be told that we are going to die. Then, the alphabet."

Cancer Is Not the Final Frontier. 

Now back to "Dealer for a day" :)

Let's talk about ...

Incredibly witty Alain de Botton openly and philosophically talks about sex. I can't wait to get my hands on his latest book :)

Alain de Botton on How to Think More About Sex from The School of Life on Vimeo.

Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange 2012

Here I am, signing up for my first card exchange, hosted by Leeswammes’ Blog and Stiletto Storytime and I am quite excited about it, mainly because I have discovered  this year great people behind the blogs I read and follow, so it will be nice to exchange winter cards with them (or one of them). I am looking forward to discovering my "partner in crime" :)
Find out more by visiting the blogs mentioned above, and if you have a book blog then you may join in the fun...

Fear and Trembling - Six Word Sum Up

 This is probably the first time I have been disappointed by a French writer, especially after I found her first book, "Hygiene and the Assassin" incredibly well written and shocking and that fact truly raised my expectations for her other books. Yet, "Fear and Trembling" did nothing except to annoy me up to its last page. Written in 1999, seven years after Nothomb's literary debut, this short novel is supposed to be about her less than positive cultural experience in Japan. But it is not. In fact, all I could grasp was this masochistic side the main character showed towards any Japanese person she encountered. There was too much humility from the main character's part to be able to somehow sympathize with her.

Life reduced to happily scrubbing toilets.

P.S. The book received le Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999, so you may give it a try, maybe you will find the story amusing.  
P.P.S. The woman on the cover is Amelie... 

The Daylight Gate - Six Word Sum Up

This is the first time I haven't been blown away by a Jeanette Winterson book and I even know the reason to my "un-amazement": it is neither the subject - hunting down the Pendle witches, which can be quite thrilling, nor the idea of Jeanette experimenting with a horror novella for the first and last time, in her words... It is, in fact, the change in her writing style, which I simply used to adore. I kept on reading the short novel, waiting for a glimpse of her style, but it felt like I was reading a book by an ordinary writer who had nothing to do with the mesmerizing way in which Jeanette usually writes. And when I came to the line "Do you remember?", which also appears in the story "Goldrush Girl" I even smiled, but that was it... the falcon has flown away never to return (read the story to understand the meaning). I really hope her next literary piece will be a return to her famous, non-conformist style, with or without Shakespeare being mentioned :) For those who love horror stories, the book is a must.

Are all clever women powerful witches?

"She heard wings. She held out her arm. It was her bird. He scarred her arm where she had no glove but she did not care because she loved him and she knew that love leaves a wound that leaves a scar."

To read more about the book, click here. 
Read for the LGBT reading event, hosted by Roof Beam Reader.