Archive for the ‘Books 2009’ Category
Toni Morrison – A Mercy
I finished this book over two weeks ago, and have been struggling to write the review ever since. I honestly hoped I wouldn’t have to drag it into the new year, but there you have it… This is the first Toni Morrison I’ve read, and I started the book with great trepidation. I’ve heard phenomenal […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Historical Fiction, New York Times Notable Book Of The Year, Nobel Prize Winners, Orange Prize Longlist, Review, Toni Morrison | 16 Comments
Tags: Racism, Slavery, Toni Morrison
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao won the Pultizer Prize for Fiction in 2008. The protagonist, Oscar, is an overweight American boy (with Dominican roots), who aspires to be the next Tolkien. His interests include writing passionately, role-playing games, comic books, sci-fi and fantasy, and of course, women. However, one bad experience with his […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Coming of Age, General Fiction, Junot Diaz, National Book Critics Circle Award, New York Times Notable Book Of The Year, Pulitzer Prize Winners, Review | 18 Comments
Tags: Dominican Republic, Junot Diaz, New Jersey
Sophie McKenzie – Girl, Missing
Girl, Missing is a story about Lauren, a fourteen year old, who lives in London with her parents. She knows she is adopted, and when she is forced to deliberate on “Who am I?” as part of her school homework, her curiosity in her past increases threefold. Logging on to a website, Missing-Children.com, she finds […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Carnegie Medal Nominee, Review, Richard & Judy Book Group, Sophie McKenzie, Young Adult | 8 Comments
Tags: Adoption, Sophie McKenzie
So, we’re standing at the threshold of 2010, and it’s that time of the year… Reflections, introspections, retrospections, that kind of thing. I’m feeling pretty annoyed with myself as I haven’t done the hundred books I wanted to, this year, but, I have read some phenomenal books, and I thought I’d just list my favourite […]
Filed under: Books 2009 | 21 Comments
Stephanie Meyer – Twilight
If you love the Twilight books, I suggest you don’t continue reading this review, despite the fact that it’s going to be a really short one. Nope – I didn’t enjoy the book, and worse, I didn’t see any point to it. I struggled to page 279, and then, I just gave up. On one […]
Filed under: ALA Best Books For Young Adults, Books 2009, Garden State Book Award, Review, Stephanie Meyer, Young Adult | 22 Comments
Tags: Stephanie Meyer, Twilight, Vampires
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is a delightful book centring around a middle-aged prudish governess, who has no money and desperately needs a job to click. One morning, a serendipitous incident sees her knock on the door of a beautiful young cabaret singer, instead of a household abound with ill-disciplined children, for a job. […]
Filed under: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Books 2009, Persephone Books, Persephone Classics, Review, Winifred Watson | 11 Comments
Tags: Winifred Watson
For twenty four years, Daphne Du Maurier has eluded me, and I’m still trying to figure out how! I read Rebecca earlier this year, and loved it, which led me to pick up My Cousin Rachel. Surprise, surprise! I loved it as well. My Cousin Rachel is narrated by Philip Ashley, who was orphaned at […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Daphne du Maurier, General Fiction, Guardian 1000, Review, Suspense/Thriller, Virago Modern Classics | 14 Comments
Tags: Daphne du Maurier
I stumbled upon The Robber Bridegroom in a second hand bookstore, and was intrigued immediately, by the quote on the cover: A Gothic fairy tale set in the eighteenth century Mississippi. I like Gothic fairy tales, most of the time, and this was no exception. It had all the key ingredients, worthy of a Grimm […]
Filed under: Books 2009, Eudora Welty, General Fiction, Gothic Fairy Tales, Review, Virago Modern Classics | 6 Comments
Tags: Eudora Welty, Mississippi
