Quote for Today

The more that you read,
the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.

- Dr. Suess

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picouit

Fiction. Hardback from Hodder & Stoughton. Published in 2004. On loan from the Windsor Library.

The other day I was clicking between our five channels and came upon Richard & Judy, a daily talk show that plays here in the UK. As it was a Wednesday, they were talking about the latest book they'd read for their Book Club. I don't usually watch the show, but since they were talking about a book, I stopped long enough to hear what they had to say. The book was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picouit. I had never heard of it, but as they discussed it, I thought I'd keep my eyes open for it the next time I was at the library.

The book is told from the point of view of all the characters, moving back and forth between them. The author does a good job of describing what it is like to have a child with a terminal disease, and the ending definitely surprised me.

Publisher's summary:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since she was a child. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her even more. But now that she has reached an age of physical awareness, she can't help but long for control over her own body and respite from the constant flow of her own blood seeping into her sister's veins. 

And so she makes a decision that for most would be too difficult to bear, at any time and at any age. She decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Using her sensitive, wise touch, Jodi Picoult probes into the love and heartache of a young girl and a modern family.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: My Sister's Keeper
from amazon.com, click here: My Sister's Keeper : A Novel

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

Fiction. Paperback from Harper Collins Publishing. Originally published in 1946. Republished in 2002. Purchased at Canaan Christian Book Centre, Staines, UK.

It took me a long time to decide that I might like to read this book. I looked at the title and basically wrote it off as something I would not be interested in. Recently, however, I saw a description of the topic and decided that I might like to give it a look after all. The title puzzled me, though. I couldn't figure out what The Great Divorce had to do with heaven and hell. If I had done a little bit more research I would have easily discovered why Lewis chose that title. But, I didn't, and had to wait until I was reading the author's introduction before I found out that the title was chosen as a response to William Blakes work The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

Lewis presents less of a definite description of what heaven and hell will be like and more of a narrative of some of the consequences of human behaviour. I was pleasantly surprised to see George MacDonald show up as Lewis' tour guide as he makes his way around heaven. It was not a difficult book to read or understand on the first reading - it only took a couple of sittings to finish - but there are plenty of insights to contemplate.

Publisher's summary:
C.S. Lewis’s dazzling allegory about heaven and hell and the chasm fixed between them, is one of his most brilliantly imaginative tales which will appeal to readers of all ages. Lewis communicates deep spiritual truths through the sheer power of the fantastic.

In The Great Divorce the writer in a dream boards a bus on a drizzly afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations and comes to significant realisations about the ultimate consequences of everyday behaviour. This is the starting point for a profound meditation upon good and evil. “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: The Great Divorce
from amazon.com, click here: The Great Divorce

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House by Stephanie Barron

Unabridged Fiction. Audiobook from Books on Tape. Published in 2002. Purchased at Audible.com

My mom got me started on these "Jane Austen as a detective" books and I have read several of them in the past year or so. This is the first that I have listened to as an audiobook though.

The stories are quite enjoyable for a Jane Austen fan. The author does a good job of sneaking phrases in from Jane Austen's many books. I do doubt fairly seriously that the Jane Austen of these novels bears much resemblance to the actual Jane Austen, but that does not lessen the enjoyment of the books. The author has been very careful to include details that fit with certain aspects of Jane's life, and at the beginning of the book we are told that the books actually come from diaries belonging to Jane Austen that were found in someone's attic in the US. Of course, that is not true, but was a clever thing for Stephanie Barron to think up and use as the supposed basis for her stories.

Publisher's summary:
Jane Austen, novelist and private investigator, is back on another case, this one involving the Royal Navy. Her brother Frank's friend, Tom Seagrave, is in the brig, accused by his first mate of stabbing a French captain after the captain surrendered. Tom denies the charges, but his dagger was found in the French captain's chest. To clear up this mystery, Jane agrees to go to the Wool House, a building where French prisoners are jailed. Risking infection, she nurses the French ship's crew, and gets an account from the ship's surgeon that exonerates Tom. But at that moment, the first mate is killed, and Tom is now doubly under suspicion. Who could want to send him to the gallows?

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House
from amazon.com, click here: Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House

Bookcrossing.com Release

Today I did my first "release into the wild". I released A Gathering Light at the Starbucks in Maidenhead. Now just to wait and see if anything comes of it or not. I'll let you know if it does.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith

Fiction. Paperback from Abacus. Published in 2004. Purchased at Methven's in Windsor, UK.

This is the sixth in the The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I've read all of the previous books. I got a bit disgruntled with the publisher after this one came out because despite having released the first five directly to paperback, they decided this sixth one should be released first in hardback. (What's up with that besides the greed of being able to charge more? No one who is collecting the series would want to have five paperbacks and one hardback lined up neatly on the bookshelf.) So, I've waited to buy it until it came out in paperback.

Publisher's summary:
Precious Ramotswe, that cheerful Botswanan private investigator of 'traditional build', is now married to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. The Agency is busy, but Mma Ramotswe cannot ignore the plea which is made by a woman who comes to her with a tale of particular misfortune. Unfortunately, her attempts to help are interrupted by a close encounter between her tiny white van and a bicycle, and by a spectacular disagreement between her assistant, Mma Makutsi, and one of the apprentices at the garage. This apprentice has found a fancy girlfriend who drives a Mercedes-Benz. How can he be rescued from his folly? And as for Mma Makutsi, she has found a dancing class, and a man who may not be able to dance very well, but who admires her greatly. And all of this happens against a background of quiet sessions of bush tea, and of a land that stretches out forever under mile upon mile of empty sky...

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
from amazon.com, click here: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Unabridged Fiction. Audiobook from Tantor Media. Originally published in 1871, recorded in 1996. Purchased on Audible.com.

CS Lewis spoke very highly of George Mac Donald. I have recently been reading Mac Donald's book Diary of an Old Soul which is a collection of sonnets, arranged to be read one a day for a year. I am enjoying them. Mac Donald has quite a lot of fiction out there as well, and I thought I would like to give some of them a try as well. This one is a children's book that I plan to pass on to Cara. I think it would make a good read aloud story.

Publisher's summary:
Young Princess Irene is sent to the country to be raised in a half-farmhouse, half-castle located in the side of a mountain. While exploring the top of the castle, Irene becomes lost and inexplicably finds her way to a mystifying and beautiful woman spinning a thread. Princess Irene is drawn to the woman whom she discovers is her great-great-grandmother. But after she returns, her nurse, Lootie, refuses to believe in the old woman's existence, and the young Princess cannot find the way back to her great-great-grandmother.

Days later, while on an outing with Lootie, Princess Irene believes that she detects a Goblin. They meet a young miner, Curdie, who confirms her sighting. Soon Curdie discovers Goblins lurking under the castle that have constructed an evil plot against the king and his palace. Princess Irene's belief in her great-great-grandmother's powers becomes essential as she and Curdie work to foil the sinister Goblin plan. As the Princess tells Curdie, "sometimes you must believe without seeing".

As an aside, I don't think the person who wrote the "publisher's review" on audible has actually read the book. The second paragraph is really not quite in sync with the story.

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: The Princess and the Goblin
from amazon.com, click here: The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics - the Essential Collection)

World Book Day 2005 in the UK

Today is World Book Day here in the UK!

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and was marked in over 30 countries around the globe last year. The origins of the day we now celebrate in the UK and Ireland come from Catalonia, where roses and books were given as gifts to loved ones on St. George’s Day - a tradition started some 80 years ago.

Strangely enough, it appears that the rest of the world celebrates World Book Day on April 23. Apparently the UK wants to continue to celebrate the day on the traditional day for them because it is during term time and can be integrated into the curriculum.

In any case, I'll celebrate it on both days. Good excuse to go out and buy a new book!