February 19th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Li
The Rossetti Letter
By: Christi Phillips
Claire Donovan always dreamed of visiting Venice, though not as a chaperone for a surly teenager. But she can’t pass up this chance to complete her Ph.D. thesis on Alessandra Rossetti, a mysterious courtesan who wrote a secret letter to the Venetian Council warning of a Spanish plot to overthrow the Venetian Republic in 1618. Claire views Alessandra as a heroine and harbors a secret hope that her findings will elevate Alessandra to a more prominent place in history. But an arrogant Cambridge professor is set to present a paper at a prestigious Venetian university denouncing Alessandra as a co-conspirator — a move that could destroy Claire’s paper and career.
As Claire races to locate the documents that will reveal the courtesan’s true motives, Alessandra’s story comes to life with all the sensuality, political treachery, and violence of seventeenth-century Venice. Claire also falls under the city’s spell. She is courted by a handsome Italian, matches wits with her academic adversary, bonds with her troubled young charge, and, amid the boundless beauty of Venice, recaptures the joy of living every moment….
I forgot how I came across this novel but it had been sitting on my want-to-read list for so long at GoodReads that I finally decided to pick it up a few months ago xD I’ve chosen this novel for the I Love Italy Reading Challenge that I am participating in. Contains some spoilers ahead!
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Posted in: Books
Tags: Books: Historical Fiction, Books: Review
February 19th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Li
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
By: Susan Cain
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who invent and create but prefer not to pitch their own ideas; who favor working on their own over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled “quiet,” it is to introverts we owe many of the great contributions to society—from Van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer.
Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with the indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Susan Cain charts the rise of “the extrovert ideal” over the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects—how it helps to determine everything from how parishioners worship to who excels at Harvard Business School. And she draws on cutting-edge research on the biology and psychology of temperament to reveal how introverts can modulate their personalities according to circumstance, how to empower an introverted child, and how companies can harness the natural talents of introverts. This extraordinary book has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.
I was quite excited to check out this book ever since I first heard about it. It’s a subject that hits home in a way because I am very much classified as an introvert (there was a little test at the beginning of the book to see whether you’re introverted, extroverted or a mix of both. Suffice to say, I am very introverted xD) and I was curious to see how Susan Cain presented the subject and the role of introverts in society.
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Posted in: Books
Tags: Books: Fiction, Books: Nonfiction
February 14th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Li
The Great Gatsby
By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Jay Gatsby is a self-made man, famed for his decadent champagne-drenched parties. Despite being surrounded by Long Island’s bright and beautiful, Gatsby longs only for Daisy Buchanan. In shimmering prose, Fitzgerald shows Gatsby pursue his dream to its tragic conclusion.
I first read this book back in grade 12 for my English class. I didn’t think too much about this book at the time as we had to complete a couple of assignments with it. With news circulating around that a new adaptation of the book will be coming out at the end of the year, I figured now is as good a time as any to revist the novel. Plus, the Vintage Classics edition of the book (the cover above) is too pretty xD Contains some spoilers!
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Posted in: Books
Tags: Books: Classics, Books: Commentary, Books: Review
February 13th, 2012 / 5 Comments » / by Li
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
This week’s topic: Top Ten Books That Broke Your Heart A Little (this year we’re going ANTI-Valentine’s Day =P)
I’m sort of interpretting this topic as books that broke my heart a little in a bittersweet sort of way if you get my drift…I will do my best to keep the spoilers out =P
In no particular order:
01. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons (review) — I just read this book recently and omg, what a whirlwind of emotions! It’ll make you chuckle, it’ll make you cry and it will put you through the wringer. I could not stop thinking about the story and wondering how Tatiana and Alexander will get make it through all of the different obstacles before them. The ending is bittersweet; it made sense within the context of the time in which the characters lived in but still, it broke my heart ;_;
02. Atonement by Ian McEwan (review) — The last few pages of this novel absolutely killed me–if you’ve watched the movie, then it’d be the last few scenes of the movie (movie review). It just…it leaves you speechless as you reflect on the 300+ page journey that you just read and the fates of all of the characters involved. It’s haunting, the writing is beautiful and yeah, the story leaves such a heartbreaking impression.
03. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (review) — This novel broke my heart in a different way. Tolstoy does an amazing job in presenting this attraction between these two people and observes them as their affairs goes through its course. It raises questions about the nature of love and what it takes for that love to last. Oh, and the outcome was just tragic.
04. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak — I think it was towards the end of the novel where my throat just tightened and my eyes became blurred. The entire novel was such a tour de force and the ending when you read about what happened to most of these characters was just…yeah…
05. The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (review) — Okay, in some ways this novel is a happy one because Henry and Clare at least was able to love each other for a time and knew each other for so long. But then there’s the flipside about their relationship, that it’s tragic because of certain events that occurred towards the end of the novel, which essentially catapults their relationship into this precious momentary event in time. I’m a sucker for love stories with a time-travel element because of this aspect so yeah, when you think about it, it is pretty heartbreaking in that sense.
06. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak — I’ve actually been meaning to re-read this novel but I remember feeling sad that things could not work out given the time in which this novel is set (lol, is it me or are all of the really heartbreaking stories set in Soviet Russia? I knew there was a reason why I studied that period).
07. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (review) — This novel focused on Hadley, the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, so naturally that means that something happened to their relationship over the course of their marriage. Because the reader becomes acquainted with Hadley’s side of the relationship, you do sympathise with her as the marriage breaks down, which in the process broke my heart because she seemed so sweet and down-to-earth.
08. Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (review) — From the beginning of the novel, the reader is informed of the tragedy that takes place between two characters. However, as you read the course of events in the novel (which took place during the early twentieth century and the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire), the full realisation and impact of the tragedy becomes clear and that is where the true tragedy lies.
09. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens — Sydney Carton. His final act for Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay was just beautiful and tragic.
10. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (review) — This book is a fascinating character study but it is also heartbreaking on a number of levels with favouritism, ambition and human stubbornness preventing people from loving each other. Oh yeah, not to mention enough personal tragedy to last you a lifetime (and emotionally scar you in the process).
Also, I just started re-reading it but I think I’d add F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby on the list…there’s also a few others that I’m probably forgetting, I’ll just edit to add them later…
Posted in: Meme
Tags: Meme: Top Ten Tuesdays
February 13th, 2012 / 8 Comments » / by Li
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
- Should Be Reading
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I present to you all a few teasers this week ^_~
“Vasilisa Yegorovna forced him to confess everything, promising not to repeat it to anyone. She kept her promise and did not say a word to anyone except to the priest’s wife, and that was only because her cow was still grazing in the steppe and might be seized by the rebels.”
- p. 51, “The Captain’s Daughter”, The Captain’s Daughter and other Stories by Aleksandr Pushkin
A very serious issue but I sort of lol’ed a bit that of all people, she would tell the priest’s wife (because naturally everyone would find out after that) xD I picked this book up last week (as part of my mood for Russian literature again) and I’ve been reading this book in the metro. It’s been pretty interesting so far; the story moves rather quickly. I didn’t know that this particular novella took place during the Pugachev rebellion and provides a snapshot of Russian life during this period. Looking forward to reading more from it in the coming days =)
“‘You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,’ she went on in a convinced way. ‘Everybody things so–the more advanced people. And I know. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything.’ Her eyes flashed around her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laugghed with thrilling scorn. ‘Sophisticated–God, I’m sophisticated!’”
- p. 16, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A little longer than two sentences but I thought that entire bit of dialogue by Daisy was interesting; in the context of the scene, it sort of describes her in a nutshell. I actually read The Great Gatsby back in high school; it was accessible but I thought nothing else of it (which has a tendency of happening when you’re more concerned about completing your assignments). I decided to re-read it again, especially as there’s a new adaptation coming out at the end of the year–not to mention the Vintage Classics edition of the book is super pretty =D
“Well-meaning parents of the mid-century agreed that quiet was unacceptable and gregariousness ideal for both girls and boys. Some discouraged their children from solitary and serious hobbies, like classical music, that could make them unpopular.”
- Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
I’m so happy that I finally got a copy of this book for my Kobo =D This book was pretty high on my want-to-read list since I first heard of it. I’m a pretty introverted person in real life (prehaps a little too introverted according the results of a brief test that was near the start of this book) so I’m curious to see what Cain’s assessment and arguments show. It’s also very informative from a cultural history point of view. I’m only in…chapter two at the moment but it is interesting to see how the emphasis shifted towards extrovert ideals during the twentieth century in America.
Posted in: Meme
Tags: Books: Classics, Books: Nonfiction, Books: Russian Literature, Meme: Teaser Tuesdays
February 13th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Li
The Remains of the Day
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
It is the summer of 1956 and Stevens, an aging English butler, embarks on a holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past. For the first time in three decades, Stevens looks back on his long life of service and finds himself confronting the dark undercurrent in the life of his previous employer, Lord Darlington, and his own conflicted relationship with the housekeeper, Miss Kenton.
A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro’s beautiful and haunting meditation on life between the wars, love denied, and the high cost of duty.
I actually read this book some three years ago but I decided to re-visit it (as part of my great re-readathon this year), especially as I’ve been (every so slowly) watching Downton Abbey lately. Contains some spoilers ahead!
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Posted in: Books
Tags: Books: Historical Fiction, Books: Review
February 12th, 2012 / No Comments » / by Li
Q
By: Evan Mandery
“Q, Quentina Elizabeth Deveril, is the love of my life.”
Shortly before his wedding, the unnamed hero of this uncommon romance is visited by a man who claims to be his future self and ominously admonishes him that he must not marry the love of his life, Q. At first the protagonist doubts this stranger, but in time he becomes convinced of the authenticity of the warning and leaves his fiancee. The resulting void in his life is impossible to fill. One after the other, future selves arrive urging him to marry someone else, divorce, attend law school, leave law school, travel, join a running club, stop running, study the guitar, the cello, Proust, Buddhism, and opera, and eliminate gluten from his diet. The only constants in this madcap quest for personal improvement are his love for his New York City home and for the irresistible Q.
I think this book came to my attention during one of my many wanderings on GoodReads. Coming off the series 3 finale of Misfits (if you watched it, you know what I’m talking about ^_~) and my interest on the subject of time travel in literature, I knew I had to check it out. I did not expect to finish this novel so quickly but I could not put it down! Contains some spoilers ahead!
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Posted in: Books
Tags: Books: Fiction, Books: Review, Books: Romance, Books: Science Fiction
