52 Books in 52 Weeks (2011) discussion

Book reviews for week 16.

Title: All That Is Gone
Author: Pramoedya Toer
Rating: 3.00/5.00

On bookstore shelves housing works of fiction which have been written by current authors, it has become a kind of trend to find stories from Afghanistan, Pakistan and countries from The Arabian Gulf. So, when I found this book I was intrigued to read the stories that Pramoedya Toer (who was a political prisoner for several years) had published based on his experiences while living in Indonesia during its struggle for independence.

Similar to the other books, the backdrop of his stories is also in a country that is war-torn, weak and being pulled apart by opposing human forces.

The book brings together a few short stories about characters that are each battling with their own worries and fears. They are stories of suffering, compromise and unfed hope - narrated in a sad yet a factual voice.

I have heard little about Indonesia's political history. This book introduced it to me from a very unconventional perspective.

Although I have yet to read them, his other works have also been recommended (especially "The Girl From the Coast" and "Stories from Blora").

My Review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Paranormalcy

5/5

I listened to this on audible. I thought the reader did a wonderful job at portraying all the different characters and emotions. The story is of a girl who isn't sure who she is and finds out the hard truths of her life, along the way she falls in love and makes new friends. Story of teens with a paranormal twist.

The 5th Horseman
2\5
A good book to pass time, yet if you bought it to read a medical mystery -like I did- you'll get disappointed that it focuses on the legal side of things in the most part. And I'll have to add, it has one or two small surprises for you,No big surprises this time.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

أعراس آمنة
ابراهيم نصر الله
5/5



" الذي يجبرنا على أن نزغرد في جنازات شهدائنا هو ذلك الذي قتلهم
نزغرد حتى لا نجعله يحس لحظة أنه هزمنا
و إن عشنا، سأذكرك أننا سنبكي كثيراً بعد أن نتحرر ... "

عادةً عندما أبدأ بقرأة أحد كتب الأدب الفلسطيني،أتعاهد مع نفسي أن أكون موضوعية، و أن لا أغالي في أعجابي، و أن لا أقلل من انتقادي للعمل... أن أترك حنيني و جذوري و نهمي لمعرفة فلسطين أكثر و أدعه جانباً
و لكن غسان كنفاني ، و إبراهيم نصر الله لم يتركوا لي المجال، بحط أي شيئٍ جانبأ

المفردات و اللهجة الفلسطينية التي تظهر فجأة كل حين، الشخصيات التي تجسد لنا واقع الإنسان الفلسطيني، تفاصيل صغيرة و حكايا بسيطة ... كل هذا يصور لنا أبناء فلسطين أبطال، بطولة لم يختاروها و لكنها بطولة أجبروا عليها

أعراس آمن ... إن هذا العنوان يثير الآهات ... العريس و الشهيد في فلسطين يزّف بالزغاريد
العريس و الشهيد يلاقي صعوبة... عريس ملاحق ... لا يتمكن من الزواج إلا بالمغامرة بروحه
و شهيد يصعب التعرف على أسمه أو شخصيته

إنها ليست مجرد رواية، هي تجسيد لألاف الحكايات عن الشهداء، شهداء غزة أو شهداء فلسطين مجملاً
و الجميل فيها أن البطولة فيها نسائية ... أو بالأحرى أموميّة
الحزن و الخوف المختلط بالقوة و الصبر هو ما يعبر عن المرأة الفلسطينية... التي مع كل لحظة تمر تحمد الله أنها لم تسمع خبر عن أحد أحبائها... و التي تخاف من كل لحظة قادمة قد تحمل خبر استشهاد أبنها، أخيها، زوجها، أبيها ، او حبيبها ...

رواية تستحق القرأة ... و أدب يستحق منا الوقوف و النظر إلى أعماقه

Not the best book of the year

3/5

61 Hours
2/5

For an action novel "61 Hours" is a little slow paced and built on waiting, maybe because of the winter setting, or to define some aspects of the characters. But never the less, the slow pace doesn't affect the readers curiosity to know what happens.
It has a "To Be Continued" on its last page, and that naturally leads to the conclusion that the not all the questions are answered in the end.
Its an action novel, but not a thriller, and it has no surprises to anyone who read this type of books before. No more than the 2 stars, It was Ok.. Not good, Not amazing, Just Ok!

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Whitney, my love by Judith McNaught
2/5

Book: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
3/5

Holden is such a pessimist and an annoying narrator. Depressed, aimless and becomes disgusted with the "phoniness" of society too often. As ridiculous a concept as that is, it's still an enjoyable read. On the whole, I was disappointed in the book, especially considering all the hype surrounding it.

مهزلة العقل البشري
by علي الوردي

4/5

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




What I love about poetry is that there is a lot of room for interpretation. And in those beautiful 80 pages, Whitman did deliver what he promised before getting into the poem:
"You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self."

A must-read for anyone who likes to analyze things. It made me want to be in a book club just to discuss it. I think if I loved poetry a bit more, I might have appreciated it immensely.

A few bits that I personally loved:

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and
self-contain'd,
I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of
owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of
years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."

"Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.) "



View all my reviews

by Charlaine Harris
4/5 stars

Love this series! Not my favorite of the series but I still really liked it. Can't wait to read the rest!

my 4th book : )

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen 4/5

an enjoyable novel about a man escaping his reality and joining a circus. a portraits of the testing of a man’s moral compass, self worth, mental illnesses, acting on emotions, illusion vs. reality, and love triangles.

.
.
.

حكام مكة
by Gerald De Gaury
rating: 4/5

كتاب رائع يحكي قصة حكام مكة من قبل الإسلام إلى آخر حكامها الأشراف الملك علي بن حسين، حينما سقطت في أيدي الوهابيين والملك عبدالعزيز آل سعود. تعمدت المرور سريعا على بعض الفترات الزمنية التي لا اراها مهمة لكن الكتاب بشكل عام جيد ومنصف.ـ

طفولة قلب ..
سلمان العودة
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...
4/5
لم تكن مجرد ذكريآت بل هي دروس متميزة للحياة
استقاهاالشيخ من تجاربه وأستقينآهآ نحن كقرآء من خلال قراءة تلك السيرة الرائعة عن شخص لم يكن قط "كما الآخرون" ..
كلمآ حآولت أن تتوغل في تلك الشخصية تصطدم بكثير من الغموض التي يدعوك للتأمل في كمية التفاؤل والايجابية الواضحة مقابل تلك التفاصيل المعتمة ..
فصعوبة المواقف التي مرت به تجبرك بأن تتخذ موقفآ مصالحآ مع الحياة.. موقفآ تقدر فيه الوحدة وتجعلها لصالحك وتنبذ فيه اليأس مهما طغى على نقاء الروح.. فمهما بدا التشبث بالأمل صعبآ.. مرهقآ.. وبلا نتائج فثقتنا بالله تجبرنا على عدم القنوط..

Second Foundation
Isaac Asimov
5/5

Loved it.

The Magician's Nephew
C.S. Lewis

5/5

Just started reading The Chronicles of Narnia series. It's amazing.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

This is a great novel that discusses the compelling life of a geisha. The narrator tells the story so wonderfully, you can't help but keep on reading. I love the many insights I got on the Japanese culture back then. The superstitions, fortune tellers, almanacs are all important to geishas and one will not do something important on an "unlucky" day. Even when she, Chiyo/Sayuri changed her name, she had to choose a lucky number of characters and each character had to have a harmonious meaning with the other characters. There are a lot of misconceptions about geishas, this book really cleared up a lot of those for me. The lives of geishas are certainly not easy ones. The day-to-day hassle of getting ready and going from party to party and all the "company" they have to put up with are a lot of pressures and they are always expected to come through.

The overall twists and side stories were really enjoyable. The pace of the book wasn't too slow or fast. However, I would not say this is a light read seeing as it is 500 pages but I do recommend this book to anyone who enjoys long novels.

I gave it four stars.

.
.



Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm
by Jeff Lemire
4 /5

" The little boy Letser creates his on world of superheroes, to make up for the isolated and boring life he is leaving in a farm with his uncle
enjoyed it
"

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked up the first Hitchhiker book after hearing so much about it a few years ago, but it didn't really interest me, so I didn't bother to read the rest of the series. Then I heard Eoin Colfer was writing the last installment, and I decided to pick it up for shits and giggles, since I'm a fan of Colfer's Artemis Fowl series. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I wasn't disappointed. The book was seriously funny, with enough of Douglas Adams style (though I can't claim to be an expert) to stay true to its predecessors, and interesting enough to make me want to go back and read the rest.



View all my reviews

مذلون مُهانون
دوستويفسكي
4/5

لأول مرة أغرق في رواية بهذا الشكل،رواية تعمقت داخل النفس البشرية ونوازعها من خير وشر وحب وكره وكبرياء وذل وكل الصفات والتناقضات التي تجتمع في الروح وأجاد دوستويفسكي وصف كل موقف على حدة بتناقضاته وأدق تفاصيل المشاعر والملامح وكل ما يجسد المشهد حياً أمامك...
وأجاد تشخيص أعراض كل شخصية ووصل لقعر الأنفس والأفكار وشرحها بإحتراف قلما نشهده في الروايات.
تجربة أولى مع دوستويفسكي وقطعاً لن تكون الأخيرة..

Author: Cecelia Ahern
Rating: 2/5


Attention: If you want to read this book and you know it's a fiction one please don't read my review, it won't help at all!

First of all, I have decided to read this book thinking it was a nonfiction one, but when i went through it, it appeared not to be! i was so disappointed how i was fooled by the summary but i decided to finish it.

Honestly what was most resentful in this book was "Tamara"-the girl which the story was revolved around- she misbehaved with her mother and called her names! besides that, there were a lot of details that I, Personally think it's unnecessary to be mentioned!
other than that the author was clever enough when she drew suspicious around some creepy characters in the book, honestly this was the reason why i decided to finish this book!
I won't spoil the story for anyone but seriously when she mentioned on the cover "What if your future was already written?" she meant it in a fictionally way!

I didn't like the book, this is my first for Cecelia and i don't think i would read anything for her again!

Heya =)




5/5

I picked this book up by luck actually, and I am very happy I did, I simply loved this book. I found her story beautiful and heartbreaking. And I think that the authors style was amazing the way she pulled you into the story from one place to the next. I am very glad I picked this up, it was a nice story which balanced Islam for me between the bad, good and beauty of muslims and people in general. It was just nice to read something that wasn`t so focused on the extreme elements of Islam ( which I have kind of grown so tired and frustrated with lately ).


Laylah =)