The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
In one of the most important and beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende weaves a luminous tapestry of three generations of the Trueba family, revealing both triumphs and tragedies.
Here is patriarch Esteban, whose wild desires and political machinations are tempered only by his love for his ethereal wife, Clara, a woman touched by an otherworldly hand. Their daughter, Blanca, whose forbidden love for a man Esteban has deemed unworthy infuriates her father, yet will produce his greatest joy: his granddaughter Alba, a beautiful, ambitious girl who will lead the family and their country into a revolutionary future.
The House of the Spirits is an enthralling saga that spans decades and lives, twining the personal and the political into an epic novel of love, magic, and fate.*
Since I read the second book in this series last month, I wanted to give this one a reread. Isabel Allende's most famous book, published way before the two prequels, is the only one in the series that's also magical realism. The other ones are historical fiction and even though I liked them and gave them 4 stars, they do not compare with this masterpiece. I read it years ago, because of the obsession with magical realism that I had back then and loved it just as much this time as I did the first time. Beside Isabel Allende's gorgeous writing, which is present in all her books, the characters in this book are so real and so lovable, their stories integrate so well in the history of Chile, that the result is one of the best books of the 20th century. I also love that the author doesn't give names to the political personalities and doesn't accurately place the events. It gives you the feeling that this could be any Latin American country and that these events could take place anywhere in the world. I'm glad I gave this a reread and I will surely do it again every 10 years or so. 5 stars, of course!
This year I decided to read more Romanian books and I'm totally failing because this is only the 3rd one I have finished. This book wasn't translated in English yet, but the title would translate to "Soldiers: A Ferentari story". I picked this one up because it was the first Romanian LGBT book I have heard about and I was really curious to read something like that. If I could describe this book in one word it would be raw. The language is raw, the characters are too, but in the end the story doesn't bring much. There's no message to the story and no conclusion. Actually, if you really analyze it, nothing much happens to these characters. I enjoyed reading the first part but I ended up getting bored by the same "borrowing money and spending it going out and getting beer" routine. It felt like the narrator was on a race of getting broke and then spending more money and getting more broke. This is a book that got many 5 star and 1-2 star reviews, which shows how hard it is to grasp. I definitely didn't hate it but I didn't love it either, so it was a 3 star read for me.
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place. The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain?*
I've had this beast on my shelf for a while now, ever since it came out in paperback, so it was time for me to read it. I'm a big fan of King's post apocalyptic or dystopian type novels, so I was excited when this came out. As usual, I enjoyed the writing (didn't really see his son's contribution to that, sorry), the characters and the setting. That being said, I didn't fly through this. It took me about 2 weeks to read, but after all it is a 700 page mass market paperback with tiny font and I am a slow reader. I also feel like some points in the plot weren't quite explained and ended up being totally random. I did like this book but not as much as I did with other King books, so I ended up giving it 4 stars.
Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi
The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work. *
My adventure with non-fiction continues with my favorite type, a memoir. I always struggle with non-fiction books and need to read them over longer periods of time. This time it took me about a month because I read a chapter of this every now and then, then about half way took a long break and picked it up again last week when I decided to just finish it already. The first part of the book talks about the Iranian revolution and Ebadi's youth, while in the second half she recounts events that happened after the Iranian Republic got established. I actually liked the second half more and found it very interesting, which made it easier for me to finish this book. This is definitely great if you know nothing about Iran, or mostly nothing like I did. Definitely informative although the writing isn't the best at times. She did get help with the editing and organizing of the manuscript but it still felt off at times. I ended up giving this books 4 stars and I'm excited to be moving on to another memoir soon.
I did it! I finished this huge huge book. This is the second book in The Kingkiller Chronicle and one I've been postponing for a long time. I didn't feel particularly rushed to read it because there still isn't a publishing date for the third book, but I was in the mood this summer so I reread the first book in preparation for this one. I enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Nick Podehl so much that I decided to listen to the second one as well. It did definitely help me get through a 1000 page book, I will say that. I won't go into plot elements because I don't want to spoil the first book, but I will say that this continues to be a character driven story. A lot of stuff happens in the book, but the emphasis is still on Kvothe's coming of age and education. There were some parts in the book that felt a bit long, but I hope they will serve a purpose in the end. I loved listening to this and gave it 5 out of five stars because it truly deserves it.
Not pictured but also read:
Not pictured but also read:
This is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe series that I started reading back in June. Again, since it's the second book in a series, it's really hard to talk about without giving any spoilers about the plot in the first book. I enjoyed this about as much as I did with the first one, although to me it didn't have as many mind blowing moments. There is definitely more action in the second book, but there is also more world building, which I always love. What I especially loved about this second book was the fact that the Thunderhead spoke directly to the reader. This ended on a cliffhanger and I will definitely continue the series, but I'm not as eager to get the third book as other people are. I guess that's a good thing, because the next book (and probably the last one) will probably be out in 2019, although there's no official date yet. I listened to the audiobook of this one and gave it 4 stars.
Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction.*
This month I picked up my first World of Warcraft book. I have never played the game before until recently, but I became curious about the lore. There are a lot of books in the series, written by multiple authors and I will probably slowly make my way through them. A list I found online placed this as the first that should be read (after the Chronicle books that only contain short stories). It recounts the events that took place before what is shown in the movie, so it was totally new information for me. The story is great and I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful writing. The only thing I didn't like about this book is the slow pacing it had sometimes. I read this as an ebook and gave it 3.5 stars.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders... but her father isn't a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife's dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers' pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed--and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.*
After reading and enjoying Wildwood Dancing a couple of months ago, I was really curious to read this Rumpelstiltskin retelling that just came out. I initially got the audiobook for this one but since it is told from multiple perspectives, I got confused and couldn't keep up with who was talking so I returned the audiobook and switched to the ebook. This happened in August and I actually enjoyed the first hundred pages or so, but then I got bored, not sure if it was a question of mood or it was the book. After that I kept picking it up and getting bored after less than a few pages. Finally, this week I decided to force myself to finish it and I managed to accomplish that on the very last day of the month. All in all, this wasn't a great book for me. It's maybe a case of "it's not you, it's me". The writing is absolutely beautiful, the story is good too, but the pacing is very slow in this book. I also had issues with the multiple perspectives in the book. There is no difference between the voices of these characters and nothing tells you who is narrating, so you have to figure it out from context. That's the reason I was totally confused when I listened to the audiobook. It starts with two perspectives, but then other ones keep getting added, which leads to total madness towards the middle of the book. It's such a shame because I really wanted to love this book. I ended up giving it 3 stars, because the book is good, even though it's not for me. I do want to try some more of this author's books in the future though because I really enjoyed the writing.
That is it for September. Hope everyone had a great reading month!
*Source: Goodreads
