Well, I’m off to Europe with my family for some vacation time before the new semester starts so no updates from me over here for the next two weeks. Expect some lovely additions to my gallery when I return, hehe =D I hope you all have a wonderful August; take care =)

All the best,
Li

So in no particular order, my top five favourite reads this summer were:

• Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson — Once again Brandon Sanderson amazes me with imagination: the world he creates for the premise of this novel and the magic system that governs it is unique and intriguing. And again, another captivating story with great dialogue.

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson — Charming novel that really is a throwback to the years before World War Two. Interesting characters with quick, witty dialogues, the novel left a smile on my face.
• Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens — Massive book but great story populated with such an array of characters. It definitely explains stuff that weren’t thoroughly fleshed out in 2008 miniseries by Andrew Davies and overall it was a fantastic and accessible read.
• Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres — Another wonderful novel by de Bernieres. Reviewers have been drawing parallels with his most famous work, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which there are some similarities but there are other elements of this novel that makes it unique. The scope was larger and it left me feeling rather melancholic for the characters.
• The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton — Probably my surprise read of the summer as I originally had no intention of reading it. But as the mystery develops, it really pulls you in to the circumstances surrounding Nell’s transporation from England to Australia in the early 20th century and her lack of memory of her family in England. Kept me glued to the book.

And other notable novels I read that I also enjoyed:

• Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

• The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• I’m In No Mood For Love by Rachel Gibson
• Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
• Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman

And that’s about it! Leisure reading for the next few months may lessen significantly (didn’t I say this last year? That sort of didn’t turn out to be the case) because of the semester exchange program I’ll be participating in, not to mention having to hammer out the remainder of my research for my major research paper -_-; but you never know =) I always find time to read somehow, lol.

My favourite shot has to be the following; the lighting in contrast to the shadows, the angle and the way the door was parted open just enough was perfect (this was taken inside Knox College in the King’s College Circle). A friend of mine described it as something out of Pillars of the Earth given its Gothic design. Cool xD

[07] Alias
[04] Grey’s Anatomy
[04] House M.D.
[04] Jeux D’Enfants
[04] Lost
[04] Persuasion (2007)
[12] Sherlock (2010)

Teasers

here @ forsaken_muse

Reviews ahead:

• Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger

• Christopher Reich’s Rules of Betrayal & Rules of Vengeance
• Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited
• Lev Grossman’s The Magicians
• Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated

Spoilers ahead!

The Little Stranger
By: Sarah Waters

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to see a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the once grand house is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its garden choked with weeds. All around, the world is changing, and the family is struggling to adjust to a society with new values and rules.

Roddie Ayres, who returned from World War II physically and emotionally wounded, is desperate to keep the house and what remains of the estate together for the sake of his mother and his sister, Caroline. Mrs. Ayres is doing her best to hold on to the gracious habits of a gentler era and Caroline seems cheerfully prepared to continue doing the work a team of servants once handled, even if it means having little chance for a life of her own beyond Hundreds.

But as Dr. Faraday becomes increasingly entwined in the Ayreses’ lives, signs of a more disturbing nature start to emerge, both within the family and in Hundreds Hall itself. And Faraday begins to wonder if they are all threatened by something more sinister than a dying way of life, something that could subsume them completely.

This book has been on my want-to-read list since I heard it was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize last year (it lost out to Hilary Martel’s Wolf Hall). The novel sounded right up my alley: set in the post-war period with an old house in the countryside and an old aristocratic family and an eerie mystery involved. Overall, I thought it was an interesting novel with the slow decay of the house reflecting the turmoil of the family. It seemed a little too detached at times, but I think that was the result of the narrator’s style reflecting the times. I think the only part that really evoked some emotion from me was towards the end with Caroline’s sudden change in behaviour which in turn affects her relationship with Faraday, the narrator; I really felt Faraday’s frustration and sadness over the whole matter. The only part of the novel that I was disappointed about was the eerie mystery and happenings that were occurring around the house and how we get no resolution at the end of the novel. On the one hand, it makes sense given the perspective of the character but on the other hand, as a reader, it does leave you hanging with no clues to really dwell on. Nonetheless, it was a novel that held my attention, especially given the times and situation that these characters lived in.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

===
Rules of Deception and Rules of Vengeance
By: Christopher Reich

I picked up these books because I was in the mood for some espionage/intrigue/thriller novels and because the premise was intriguing (the wife, Emma, is more than who she appears to be and her husband, Jonathan, finds himself at a race to uncover what his wife is up to). And they were entertaining for the most part. I remember thinking the plot was far too simple in the first novel but the second novel made up for its simplicity. The dialogue was a little cringe-worthy at times or just not realistic in a conversation. However, by the end of the second novel I was rather fed up with Emma and the way she jerked Jonathan around with her multiple loyalties. Overall, it was entertaining but I won’t be continuing the series.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

===
Brideshead Revisited
By: Evelyn Waugh

The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh’s novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder’s infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them.

I had heard wonderful things about this book and I’m glad that I finally got around to reading it. It was an interesting novel, you really get a nostalgic feel for the era of the 1930s. It was also interesting to observe the Marchmains family from the eyes of Charles Ryder, who despite becoming well-acquainted and accepted by the family is still very much the outsider. The first two parts of the novel where Charles and Sebastian were still at Oxford were probably my favourite parts because of the nostalgia. In a way, I could relate with their attitudes towards the world and uncertainty about the future. The third part was still interesting though there was a chapter about Julia that was sort of confusing and out of place from the rest of the narrative. Despite being a practicing Catholic however, I thought Waugh’s message about Catholicism was a bit too deep and theoretical for me to grasp (not to mention I had to remind myself that Catholicism in the early 20th century was a lot different from the prevailing ideas and attitudes practiced now). Nonetheless, it doesn’t really detract from the overall plot of the novel. Definitely worth the read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

===
The Magicians
By: Lev Grossman

Like everyone else, precocious high school senior Quentin Coldwater assumes that magic isn’t real, until he finds himself admitted to a very secretive and exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. There he indulges in joys of college-friendship, love, sex, and booze- and receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery. But magic doesn’t bring the happiness and adventure Quentin thought it would. After graduation, he and his friends stumble upon a secret that sets them on a remarkable journey that may just fulfill Quentin’s yearning. But their journey turns out to be darker and more dangerous than they’d imagined. Psychologically piercing and dazzlingly inventive, “The Magicians” is an enthralling coming-of-age tale about magic practiced in the real world-where good and evil aren’t black and white, and power comes at a terrible price.

Apparently readers are divided about this book: either they love it or they don’t. I fall under the first category. I thought it was an interesting way to approach the urban fantasy/magic in the real world scenario. And it’s an intriguing way of presenting a coming-of-age story: you feel for Quentin’s frustrations and disappointments about the real world. And the message of what happens when your fantasies come to life is one to take to mind. For a while it seemed as though there was no real plot going on but it was overall an enjoyable read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

===
Everything Is Illuminated
By: Jonathan Safran Foer

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man — also named Jonathan Safran Foer — sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

Finally got around to reading this book and for the most part I enjoyed it. It had an interesting premise and it touches on some melancholic aspects of the human condition. The move between the flashbacks of the Safran family and the present day travel of the main character was also interesting, though the present day events entertained me far more. But the main reason why I rated it so highly was the dialogue between Sasha, the translator, and Jonathan, the main character (same name as the author of the book) and sometimes with the grandfather and the dog; it particularly cracked me up because of Sasha’s English grammar, which would make total sense if he was speaking in Ukrainian but it would be a bit backwards for us. Not to mention the whole cultural difference (the segment about Jonathan explaining how he’s a vegetarian was particularly hilarious; possibly my favourite scene in the novel).

Reading this book sort of reminded me of the magical realism you’d find in books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Louis de Bernieres but sort of on its head, backwards and inside out. It’s pretty wacky sometimes (the section towards the end of the entries that all Jewish children had to know was pretty funny). The only aspect of this novel I didn’t really enjoy was the stream of consciousness style that Foer adapted to narrate the novel. I thought that with the wackiness, moments of melancholic seriousness and exchange from past to present that adding the stream of consciousness element just made the book too hefty at times. Not to mention it was a bit annoying to get through, I had a tendency to just skim through it.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Have your reading choices changed over the years? Or pretty much stayed the same? (And yes, from childhood to adulthood we usually read different things, but some people stick to basically the same kind of book their entire lives, so…)

- Booking Through Thursday

Yeah, I would say that my reading choices had changed over the years. In high school most of the books I read were in the fantasy genre (J.R.R. Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Tad Williams, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc.) and I had started branching into the historical fiction genre (Bernard Cornwell, etc.). When I started my undergrad, I started reading a lot of classics (Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, etc.) and regular fiction from thrillers to erm, lighter reads, lol. Nowadays it’s a whole mix, including contemporary classics (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Louis de Bernieres, etc.) and poetry on occasion (Federico Garcia Lorca, John Keats, etc.). I still read the genres I enjoyed during my high school years but my reading choices are all over the place now xD

[10] A Single Man
[10] Identity [episode 1.01]
[25] Sherlock [2010; episode 1.01]
[20] Star Trek Enterprise [various seasons]

Teasers

here @

1. Favourite childhood book: The Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans and the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? book series (learned a lot from the books).

2. What are you reading right now? Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited (at long last) and Joel Shepherd’s Killswitch (been in a major sci-fi kick at the moment).

3. What books do you have on request at the library? Ehhh, none *blushes*

4. Bad book habit: Buying books *blushes*

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? Haven’t used the public library in years now (not since that fine I had to pay because I forgot the deadline) *blushes*

6. Do you have an e-reader? No and I’m not planning on picking one up anytime soon.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? During the school year I stick to one because I’m reading so many other books but during the summer I’ve been reading about two or three at the same time.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? Mmm, not really. Having a blog helps me to express my thoughts about a book I read and sites like GoodReads help me with recommendations and stuff but otherwise I don’t think my reading habits have really changed.

9.Least favourite book you read this year: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

10. Favourite book I’ve read this year: I have a few (okay, more like a bunch) –
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone? I don’t know because at this point I seem to be dipping into a cross of genres: classics, modern lit/general fiction, suspense/thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, history, etc.

12. What is your reading comfort zone? Just mentioned in the previous question

13. Can you read on the bus? Not really as I’m still battling motion sickness every now and then xD

14. Favourite place to read: In bed at night when everyone’s gone to sleep =)

15. What’s your policy on book lending? Mmm, the only people whom I usually lend books to are my brother and my best friend, lol. They know to take care of my books, lol.

16. Do you dogear your books? Big no-no for me =S

17. Do you write notes in the margins of your books? Only in my textbooks and non-fiction, history or otherwise books

18. Do you break/crack the spine of your books? I avoid it as much as I can

19. What is your favourite language to read? English since it’s my mother tongue. Haven’t really read anything in Tagalog yet (my copy of Noli Me Tangere is translated into English); tried a bit of French which is o-kay. Still working on my Russian =P

20. What makes you love a book? The characters and the plot

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? If I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, was amazed by the characters and just the overall presentation of the story

22. Favourite genre: classic literature particularly from 19th century Britain

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did): drama/plays (same answer as Fiona)

24. Favourite Biography: Pope Benedict XVI wrote an amazing biography on Jesus’s life during his ministry, placing his life and works in a historical context.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book? (And, was it actually helpful?) When I was younger, yes. Dunno if it really helped though, LOL

26. Favourite Cookbook: Don’t really crack open cookbooks, lol

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction): Russia After the War: Hopes, Illusions and Disappointments, 1945 – 1957 by Elena Zubkova; truly affected the scope of my research project

28. Favourite reading snack: Coffee

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience: Maybe Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol but I guess I was over his style at this point.

30. How often do you agree with the critics about about a book? Maybe rarely; I usually try to avoid reading critics before reading a book so that I can formulate my own opinion. Usually my opinions aren’t close to theirs so yeah…

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? It’s their opinion, you know? If they have a negative review but it’s presented in an articulate and reasonable manner, it’s understandable. People who bash a book but aren’t very reasonable or articulate about it…well, that just looks bad.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose? Russian (slowly getting there though!), Spanish (can pick out a few words here and there but I can’t read it fluidly)

33. Most intimidating book I’ve read: From this year? Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana. I don’t know why but the size of the mass bound paperback was massive, maybe affected the way I approached the book xD

34. Most intimidating book I’m too nervous to begin: Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (which is ridiculous because I have read War and Peace a few years ago)

35. Favourite Poet: Federico Garcia Lorca, followed by John Keats

36. How many books do you usually have checked out from the library at any given time? When I used to, it was about one at a time

37. How often do you return books to the library unread? Happened only once; I was halfway through and I was running out of time because of high school deadlines

38. Favourite fictional character: Not fair, I have too many favourites -_-; Okay, Eugene Rayburn from Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend

39. Favourite fictional villain: Bradley Headstone from Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend. Dunno if you could really call him a “villain” per say but he was driven to some rather violent acts. It was creepy =S

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation: I’m bringing Harlan Corlan’s Tell No One for my trip next month. It’s light xD

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading: Probably a month; it was essay deadline after deadline those times.

42. Name a book you could/would not finish: Frank Herbert’s God Emperor of Dune. After the original characters and their descendents, it started getting a little too weird for me to get through. I had no idea what was going on.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading? If something prior to reading is preoccupying my thoughts.

44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel: Ian McEwan’s Atonement, J.R.R. Tolkien’s LOTR

45. Most disappointing film adaptation: …Christopher Paolini’s Eragon is all I can think of. Gosh, that was such a crappy movie, even Jeremy Irons couldn’t save the film.

46. Most money I’ve ever spent in a bookstore at one time: CAD$90 maybe?

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Rarely; I read the first few pages before deciding to pick it up or not.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through? If I characters annoy me/don’t evoke any emotions from me, if the plot is trite, if the plot is confusing me, if the narrative is irksome or dodgy in some way, etc.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized? Used to; now I have to many books that it’s more a matter of where I can stick them -_-;

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once they’ve been read? Depends; I usually keep them but if I really dislike it or if it was okay, I might give them away or something.

51. Are there any books that you’ve been avoiding? Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. I don’t know why but I feel as if I’m not ready to read that book yet.

52. Name a book that made you angry: China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station — hours of my life I can never get back >=(

53. A book I didn’t expect to like but did: Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory

54. A book I expected to like but didn’t: China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station

55. Favourite guilt-free guilty pleasure reading: Chick-lit xD

[15] A Single Man
[14] Ashes to Ashes [various episodes]
[40] Identity [episode 1.01]

Teasers

here @ forsaken_muse

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

I actually have two teasers this week because I’m reading two novels at the moment xD

Teaser #1: “Even before the coming of the cautious Alberico from overseas in Barbadior to rule over Astibar, the city that liked to call itself ‘The Thumb that Rules the Palm’ had been known for a certain decree of asceticisn. In Astibar the mourning rites were never done in the presence of the dead as was the practice in the other eight provinces: such a procedure was regarded as excessive, to fevered an appeal to emotion” – p. 50, Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Teaser #2: “‘I need them to slip up…I nee a break,” murmured McMahon.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” replied Heaney.”
- p. 348, Term Limits by Vince Flynn

Been meaning to get around to both books for some time now and I finally have. Heard wonderful things about Tigana and I figured it’s time to really tackle an amazing book written by Kay (I guess it doesn’t hurt that they re-released all his books recently in mass paperback with gorgeous new covers *is a sucker for amazing covers*) and it’s quite interesting so far. Haven’t gone far in it partially because it’s quite a brick in the new releases but I’ll be reading more soon enough =) As for Term Limits, I’m in the mood for some suspense and this novel caught my attention. It’s doing its job nicely, lol.