Recent Reads V

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.