My Reading Challenges - January 2014

Apparently, I always start the New Year in full swing, with lots of reading time, but then, school starts and I am back to struggling to find some reading time... For this month, I am planning to read Murakami's latest novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" for the January in Japan Challenge, and also to celebrate his birthday, on the 12th of January :); Sarah Dunant's latest book about the Borgias, "Blood and Beauty", mainly because I love her previous historical novels and I am quite interested in the story of this famous family; Yehuda Berg's book "Satan - An Autobiography" on the Opponent and fighting the good fight; Jane Hawking's (yes, Stephen Hawking's former wife) "My Life with Stephen" because I have recently seen two documentaries and one BBC adaptation of the scientist's life and I am quite intrigued about the man behind the famous mind; last but not least, "an international sensation" which seems to be the story from "The Rosie Project", about a professor of genetics who embarks upon The Wife Project, hoping that there is someone out there for everyone...

Let the page turning begin! :)

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!

Giveaway Winner

There were 12 entries in the giveaway, my first giveaway, and the winner is lucky Rikki, the one who hosted this giveaway and whose idea we embraced. Congrats, Rikki! :) The book will be on its way soon.

The Non - Fiction Giveway Hop

Welcome to my first giveaway on the blog, kindly hosted by Rikki and which starts today, the 26th, ending on the 29th! 

I love reading non - fiction books so I am giving away one of the best books I read last year, "How to Be a Woman", by Caitlin Moran. It is a funny, yet sometimes serious book about the troubles and bliss of being a woman, among other things :)The book is in English and it will be shipped via The Book Depository if you live abroad, or via the Romanian post, if you live in my country.

What do you have to do to win it? Leave a comment with your name and e-mail and tell me why you would like to win this book. Also, you can mention one or two non - fiction books you enjoyed reading.The winner will be announced on the 1st of May.

Here are the other blogs taking part in the giveaway hop:
Rikki's Teleidoscope 

The Book Garden
Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
Exurbanis
Bookchickdi
Bukubukudidi 
doingdeweydecimal
Savingsinsecond

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.

The Non - Fiction Giveaway Blog Hop

(aka My First Giveaway on the Blog Ever :))
I do love reading non-fiction books and I was happy when Birgit started the non - fiction reading challenge, but when Rikki decided to host a giveaway hop on the subject, how could I have said no? :)
So, here I am, letting you know that you may join our giveaway until the 20th of April if you are a lover of non-fiction books... and please drop by to see what books we have in store for you.
To sign up for the giveaway please visit Rikki's blog. 

Ackroyd's Venice

Peter Ackroyd is an English biographer, novelist and critic whose prolific work includes books on Dickens, Shakespeare, Chaucer, but also on London, the river Thames and Venice.
His "Venice Pure City" is seen as "sumptuous" by The Times and as "brilliant" by Independent on Sunday, so there can be only one conclusion: he really knows Venice, its history and glory, its mystery and beauty.
The book is comprised of eleven chapters and a Venetian chronology and they develop topics such as how the state of Venice was formed, the empire built on trade, the city's secrets, sacredness and its shadows. the book is full of pictures ranging from old maps of Venice to the interior of the basilica of Saint Mark or Titian's paintings of Venetian personalities.

"How could they build upon mud and water? It was possible, however, for wooden poles of from ten to a dozen feet in length to be sunk into the mud before reaching a layer of harder clay and dense sand that acted as a firm foundation. This was the 'boundary' at the bottom of the lagoon. So there sprang up small houses known as casoni made from the wood of poles and boards with pitched roofs of wattle and reed. " (page 7)

Ackroyd talks about the dialect spoken in Venice, the invasions that took place centuries ago and, did you know that it was not called Venezia until the thirteenth century?
Being built upon the sea, Venice became the city of miracles and in the Venetian chronicles the city was always presented as a great and shining place.

In this fascinating account, the writer even talks about the Venice weather:
"But the most celebrated wind is the scirocco, the warm wind that comes from the south-east and can persist for three or four days. (...) The scirocco itself has been blamed for the Venetian tendency towards sensuality and indolence; it has been accused of instilling passivity and even effeminacy within the citizen." (page 29)

With almost five hundred pages, the book is a pure gem when it comes to discovering or rediscovering the Venice behind the tourist attractions and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is in love with the city. By the way, did you know that in the sixteenth century there were five hundred gardens in Venice? :)

The Guardian develops on the subject of Gardens in Venice here.

Read for my pleasure, the Venice in February and the Non - Fiction Reading Challenges

Diego & Frida - Six Word Sum Up

Frida was an amazing woman with an incredible talent. She started to fascinate me back in high school, when I discovered her breathtaking paintings and her unbelievably aching yet admirable life. Since then, I have bought (or received) her art albums and read one or two books about her life.  In 2011, in Istanbul I even admired some of their paintings and sketches from the Gelman collection.

Most of Frida's work and life revolve around her love for Diego Rivera, whom she considers more than a lover. In a poem quoted by Le Clezio, she states that Diego is her best friend, her fellow artist, her father and mother, her child, her universe.

Art - the only way to exist. 
 
The book is written by Le Clezio, the French writer who was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature back in 2008. I expected more insight into Frida's life, but I guess I will have to read her diary, which is on my list. The book focuses on the romance between the Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, their political involvement and their travels to the United States and Europe. The biography is a short one, but it is the perfect introduction in the lives of the two painters, Diego the Womanizer and Frida the Sufferer... 

"L'infirmité progressive, l'enfermement dans la solitude de la douleur ont transformé le rêve d'enfant en fantasme, et donné une valeur presque mythique à cette autre elle-même, qu'elle scrute indéfiniment dans son miroir." p.65

Read for my pleasure, Birgit's Non - Fiction Challenge and New Authors Challenge :)