tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49481011281212806592024-02-18T21:17:00.418-08:00Book ArchiveAvidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-71021092201927354412009-03-15T14:22:00.000-07:002009-03-16T05:27:46.752-07:00Nineteen Minutes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/nineteenminutes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/nineteenminutes.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In this book, Jodi Picoult tells the powerful story of 17 year old Peter Houghton, who has been bullied since his very first day of school. One day Peter goes to school armed with four guns and shoots ten students and a teacher that get in his way. The shooting is a big shock to the small town of Sterling where nothing of this magnitude has ever happened and Peter is perceived as a monster and the relatives of the people involved are seeking justice. Throughout the book Picoult tells the story from the perspective of Peter's mother Lacey, his childhood friend Josie, her mother Alex and that of Peter himself and from their views you can learn what brought Peter to perform such an act. The incessant teasing and humiliation, the loss of his only friend to the cool crowd and the lack of adult interference to help him all aid in what becomes a tragedy. Reading this book makes you realize the hardships of being a teenager and trying to fit in, how cruel others can be to someone that is not necessarily as cool and the affects this can have on an individual. By showing all aspects of the situation, Picoult portrays the "monster" as a person which might be a victim of society himself without taking away the seriousness of his actions and the suffering of the people involved. When reading this book I was not able to put it down, it is so fluent and the way that the characters come together is amazing. This was my first time reading a book by Jodi Picoult, and if it is anything to go by I can't wait to read some of her other books.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-54918302341419232622009-03-07T11:00:00.000-08:002009-03-07T11:30:23.929-08:00The Magician<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/themagician.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/themagician.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Set in Bohemian Paris, Arthur and his fiancee Margaret are planning their marriage and forthcoming life together. That is until Oliver Haddo walks into the picture and turns their uneventful lives upside down. Based on the black magician Aleister Crowley, Haddo is sinister, repulsive and spiteful, which makes him by far the most interesting character in the book. After being physically assaulted by Arthur for upsetting Margaret, Haddo takes revenge by making Margaret fall in love with him. She leaves Arthur and elopes with the magician, unknowing of what her future life with Haddo will be like. When Arthur sees Margaret again, she is not the same sweet girl that he knew but she looks troubled and sick. Arthur is determined to save the girl from Haddo's evil powers, which in the end unravels the dreadful work of the magician and what he dedicated his life to. When I started reading this book it was slow and dull, I was having a hard time staying interested until the turn of events where it picked up and became quite gripping. As the story unfolds it becomes dark and full of suspense, however the ending left me with too many questions which makes it hard for me to decide whether I liked this book or not.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-86835424783237004712009-02-22T06:17:00.000-08:002009-02-22T06:29:35.846-08:00Pride And Prejudice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/prideandprejudice.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/prideandprejudice.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When I started reading this book I was a little skeptic whether I would like it or not. My view of classic books has been somewhat tainted ever since I was young, where in school we were made to read these books which we then discussed in class. I always loved reading, so you would think I wouldn't have had a problem with this, but I did. The fact that I didn't have a choice in reading them and had a limited amount of time to do so interfered with me enjoying the book I was reading. I have lately been hearing a lot about Pride And Prejudice and other books by Jane Austen, and since I never picked up this one before I thought I would give it a try, but of course not without any skepticism. I was very surprised when just a few pages in the book I was enjoying it and as I continued to read I was even more caught up in the story. Set in the 19th century, it was common then that a woman like Mrs. Bennett would be distressed that none of her five daughters were married yet, and it seems that the whole purpose of her life is to see each of them settled with a nice man that has an agreeable income. When Mr. Bingley comes into the picture and shows his interest in Jane, the eldest of the sisters, she is quite convinced that they will get married soon and this will open up new opportunities for her other daughters. However this was not to be and all of a sudden Mr. Bingley and his party move away without any word. During this time, Elizabeth, the second eldest of the sisters has her views on the situation which are quite surprising for a woman at that time. Elizabeth is a feminist and is determined not to compromise her happiness by marrying the first man that requests her hand and is not afraid to reject a proposal if she doesn't see it fit for her. The book is aptly named as pride and prejudice causes ill judgment of each other, where Mr. Darcy is perceived by everyone to be a proud man that only speaks to people of his own kind, and the prejudice between the characters hinders their true feelings and actions from being understood. Austen has intelligently constructed each character and situation that it makes you feel like you're part of it all. After reading this book I can understand better why it is called a classic, and it has definitely set the path for me to read other books by Jane Austen as well as other classic books with an open mind.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-34849865063627884412009-02-17T13:34:00.000-08:002009-02-24T11:10:27.115-08:00Flowers For Algernon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/flowersforalgernon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/flowersforalgernon.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>At the beginning of the book, Charlie Gordon is in his thirties and has an IQ of 68. In an effort to become smarter he starts attending the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults, where his will to learn is noticed and he becomes a candidate for an experimental surgery to increase his intelligence. This procedure has only been performed on mice before, and has been highly successful on a specific mouse called Algernon. The story is made up of Charlie's progress reports which his doctors ask him to start keeping before the surgery and throughout his experience. From his reports you can see how Charlie progresses and his intellect grows, while he starts remembering about his childhood and how he came to where he is today. This transition is hard for Charlie as he begins to understand how the people he thought were his friends were only making fun of him and taking advantage of the fact that he was mentally challenged. When Algernon's abilities start to decline, Charlie is distressed and he realizes that he only has a limited amount of time to find out why this is happening. Charlie's journey of self-discovery is both sad and moving and it made me feel for Charlie as near the end the inevitable occurred. This is definitely one of the best books I have read in a while and it's no wonder that Daniel Keyes was the recipient of the Nebula Award given by the Science Fiction Writers of America for the best novel of the year.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-28980291074487728812009-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:002009-02-19T11:12:06.600-08:00How Starbucks Saved My Life<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/starbucks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/starbucks.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Michael Gates Gill had a privileged upbringing that landed him an executive job at a major advertising company as soon as he graduated from Yale. He dedicated his life to his job while sacrificing personal development and time with his family. During the twenty-five years he spent as a top executive he became a selfish man that only cared about himself and was inconsiderate of anyone he thought was not of the same level as himself. One day, when Gill was in his fifties he got fired from his job and he found himself struggling with life. After having an affair that left him with a new son, a divorce and a failed attempt at having his own advertising business, Gill was on the brink of becoming broke when he was offered a job at Starbucks. As unaccustomed as he was to this situation he needed to make a living so he accepted the job offer and started working for Crystal, a twenty-eight year old African American. Gill was very anxious about his job and throughout his experience he wanted to impress Crystal and prove that he was just as capable of doing the job as the other, much younger, employees. From working at Starbucks, Gill learned that his belief that he had it all in his previous way of life in fact didn't mean anything and he found happiness in being a normal guy working in an amiable environment where everyone respects each other. The concept of this book was inspiring and I think there is a lesson to be learned for everyone from it, however at times I felt like there is too much Starbucks propaganda in it. The author keeps mentioning what a good atmosphere Starbucks employees work in that it makes you think "OK we got the point now move on", and is it possible that there is not one negative aspect of working at Starbucks? This is not surprising since Gill himself comes from an advertising background but if you are able to ignore this it has the potential of being a good book.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-53565223869035769922009-01-17T13:58:00.000-08:002009-02-24T11:11:08.232-08:00Angels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYbwQ6DFfarKIgxUNschoe4DyEDlOGH2mE64LCFmVmf2dCwV01qyM5Q89gCE3UxLckp-cqdT7tpO-2mrKX-l3OHvypzRXgAQD7e0zXVvu98Fb18z26IvzGDA0XdXwTtxxqXAORHpUw7kL/s1600-h/angels.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYbwQ6DFfarKIgxUNschoe4DyEDlOGH2mE64LCFmVmf2dCwV01qyM5Q89gCE3UxLckp-cqdT7tpO-2mrKX-l3OHvypzRXgAQD7e0zXVvu98Fb18z26IvzGDA0XdXwTtxxqXAORHpUw7kL/s320/angels.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292312784886657474" border="0" /></a>Maggie is known to be the sensible one from the Walsh sisters and she always does the right thing, so when she walks out on her marriage everyone is surprised. Finding herself hurt and feeling lost she goes on a trip to Los Angeles to stay with her friend Emma, where she lets her guard down and starts to act like she has never done before. She thinks that this is what she needs to find herself and be able to move on. After a few wild episodes, including a fling with Troy which leads to heartbreak yet again, exploring other grounds with Lara and a lot of recollections of the past, she realizes that being the boring one and living a safe life is ok because this is the way she is, and no amount of adventure will make make her happy like Garv, her husband does. While reading this book I kept waiting to be hooked but as I got nearer to the end I realized this wasn't going to happen. Having read three other books by Marian Keyes (Sushi For Beginners, <a href="http://bookarchive.blogspot.com/2008/06/other-side-of-story.html">The Other Side of the Story</a> and <a href="http://bookarchive.blogspot.com/2008/08/anybody-out-there.html">Anybody Out There?</a>) which I have enjoyed, I found myself a bit disappointed with this one. I felt that the story wasn't gripping enough and I couldn't really get into it, it seemed like Maggie's character wasn't interesting enough and something was missing. As always though, the witty parts are great, I like Keye's sense of humor and I was glad that it wasn't missing in this book. For me it wasn't hard getting through the book, maybe because I kept expecting it to get more interesting as I read on, but in the end I was let down.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-51374123057926919532009-01-03T14:41:00.000-08:002009-02-24T11:12:47.835-08:00Desperation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/desperation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/desperation.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A crazy Nevada policeman, Collie Entragian, is going about pulling vehicles over on a desert highway. The people that he doesn't immediately kill he takes to the small town of Desperation and locks them up in jail. The first to be captured are the Carver family whose RV is sabotaged while driving on the highway, and after killing their daughter Entragian locks the rest of the family in jail. The next to join them is Mary which is followed by a once famous writer Johnny Marinville. Already in jail is Tom Billingsley, the only one still alive from the community of Desperation. At first it is thought that the group is fighting against the policeman, however as the story progresses, a much bigger force is unveiled. This is essentially a fight between the good, which is God communicating with them through the young David Carver, and evil, in the form of Tak, which has surfaced from the mine pit, inhibits the bodies of humans and uses its host to perform its activities. I really liked the plot in this book and the fact that there is so much detail and in depth descriptions of the characters, I was immediately drawn in. David Carver's character is excellent and by the end of the book, which also has an unexpected twist, I found myself loving him more and more. I still have much to read from Stephen King but this is one of the best I have read so far and probably the most chilling and gory.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-18820321796120343012009-01-01T14:21:00.000-08:002009-02-19T11:10:57.932-08:00The Yellow Wallpaper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/theyellowwallpaper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/theyellowwallpaper.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Another short story that I read recently was "The Yellow Wallpaper". This book is written in the form of a diary being kept by a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Instead of getting the necessary medical attention, the woman is taken by her husband to a Summer house where she is required to rest in order to get better. Her husband has forbidden her from writing as he believes that this is what made her sick, however she secretly starts keeping a diary where she writes about her situation, and most of all about the intriguing yellow wallpaper in the room where she spends her time. After a lot of thinking and analyzing the pattern of the wallpaper she starts to believe that a woman resides underneath the wallpaper that wants to get out and she must help her to do so. Before reading this book I read very good reviews of it, and although the story itself is quite captivating, I didn't enjoy reading it as much as I thought I would. I think this book is more about the concept of the story that describes how women, or even anyone suffering from depression, were treated in those days that makes this book so compelling to most people. I generally do not enjoy short stories because I feel that they do not give you enough time to get to know the characters and they always seem to end abruptly whereas I like to get into the book and become a part of the character's lives. After reading such good reviews about this book I am surprised that I didn't feel the same way about it and I am still wondering if there was something that I missed.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-26038965930274408342008-12-27T14:50:00.000-08:002009-02-19T11:10:18.994-08:00A Christmas Carol<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/achristmascarol.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 240px;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/achristmascarol.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In this short story Ebeneezer Scrooge is a lonely miser that hoards all his money and does not even think about helping his impoverished family or others in need. On returning home one cold night he is visited by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, which has been dead for seven years. Marley warns Scrooge that unless he changes his way of living he will be spending his afterlife in great misery where he will not be able to rest. On that night Scrooge is visited by three spirits, the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas yet to come. The spirits make Scrooge realize that there is much more to life than he is living and by helping others he can make someone else's life better. I think everyone heard about Scrooge's story but not everyone has read this book. I was one of them until I realized that the other day so I decided to read it. It is a very short book and you can finish it in just a couple of hours but I really enjoyed it. Dickens makes good use of imagery to convey the difference between the poor people that still managed to live a happy life as oppsed to Srooge who was wealthy but chose to live a cold and lonely life. This was a very enjoyable book to read and it is suitable for kids and adults alike. It aims to put a message across that one shouldn't be greedy and I think Charles Dickens did that very well.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-71555495837440724052008-08-30T10:51:00.000-07:002009-02-24T11:15:43.779-08:00Anybody Out There?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/anybodyoutthere.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/anybodyoutthere.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Anna is in Dublin staying with her parents while she recovers from some serious injuries, however her mind is back home in New York. At first what happened to Anna is a mystery, with the occasional mention of her husband Aidan who doesn't seem to be around anymore. When she moves back to New York the story starts unveiling through Anna's painful thoughts. She tries to appear as everything is fine but in reality she is willing to do anything to hear from Aidan, even lose her glamorous job as a PR for a makeup line. While Anna is learning to deal with the truth she also discovers something that she never expected. At first this made her furious at Aidan however in the end it turned out to be what she needed to move on and the closest to Aidan she could get now that he is gone. <br /><div>This is the first book I have read from the unofficial "Walsh Sister Series" by Marian Keyes. At times it does get sad but I also loved the humor in this book. I am really liking Keye's style and can't wait to read the other books in this series to get to know the other sisters' stories. All in all it's a relaxing read with an interesting story. </div>Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-33489085052607562972008-07-31T14:22:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:09:42.821-08:00Two Caravans<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/twocaravans.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/twocaravans.jpg" alt="Two Caravans" border="0" /></a>A group of eight immigrants from different parts of the world go to England in hopes of finding a better life, but instead they find themselves living in two caravans in a strawberry field, not at all what they had expected. This book deals with how immigrants in England perceive the country before they go there, the high expectations they have and their hope of making a better life for themselves. The immigrants are instead exploited and given jobs that the English people will not do such as strawberry picking and working in the poultry industry. The book is written from the point of view of these eight workers, as well as dog's point which they have named Dog. In the second part this is mostly from Andriy's and Irina's point of view, both from Ukraine but one is a miner's son from the Donbas mining region while the other is a bourgeois girl from the anti-Russian Western Ukraine. Despite being very different they end up being attracted to each other and they both think that in the long run they can change the other's way of thinking. I picked up this book while I was at the airport in London on my way back home because I had seen a couple of people reading it during my short stay there. Initially I thought it would be light reading but Marina Lewycka managed to explore serious subjects such as global capitalism in a way that it will not bore you out.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-69235244846976851822008-07-06T13:29:00.001-07:002009-02-19T11:08:57.612-08:00Things I Learned About My Dad<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/thingsilearnedaboutmydad.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/thingsilearnedaboutmydad.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is a collection of essays about fatherhood written by various bloggers and compiled by Heather B. Armstrong of <a href="http://www.dooce.com/">www.dooce.com</a>. The essays vary from those written by fathers about their kids or to their kids, to those written about the authors' fathers. I found the essays witten by the fathers quite interesting and enjoyed seeing parenthood from the dads' perspective. My favorite essays were 'Sam I Am' by Matthew Baldwin and 'Day Job' by Heather B. Armstrong. This was a little different read for me as I don't usually read these kind of books but I'm always open to new things so being I follow Dooce I thought I'd give it a try. I was expecting this book to be more funny and deep from the reviews I read about it and from reading Dooce, however I was a bit disappointed to find out that most of the essays aren't really humorous and none of them that deep. I didn't care for some of the essays either, especially ones were the writing is not that good. Maybe I had high expectations for this book and that is why I was disappointed. What I would have liked to see was more essays by Heather herself as I like her style of writing, and in general I think it would have been a better book.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-8136509537699959992008-06-29T10:16:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:08:18.095-08:00The Other Side of the Story<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/theothersideofthestory.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/theothersideofthestory.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This book is written from the perspective of Gemma, Lily and Jojo, three women striving to be successful. Gemma and Lily used to be friends, until Lily stole Gemma's boyfriend Anton, although it's debatable whether she really stole him since Gemma and Anton broke up prior to them getting together. Jojo is the sexy agent at Lipman Haigh involved in a complicated love affair with Mark, one of the partners at the company while she herself is striving to become partner. The three women connect when Jojo agents both Lily's and Gemma's book and as the story evolves, everything gets more complicated, from their love life to their jobs. This is typical 'Chick Lit' but Marian Keyes did a great job at making the story enjoyable where you get to both laugh and cry. It's a great book for a relaxing read with nothing too intriguing to figure out and very easy to go through. For some reason I found myself really rooting for Gemma and was a little disappointed with how her book turned out, but on the other hand was pleased that everything else worked out for her. Knowing how each of the women perceive the situation made me connect with the three of them, and although at times I didn't like Lily in the end I really wanted her to get back with Anton. I also found the three different characters to be real, with a little extravagance thrown in to make it more interesting but I can easily see how anyone can feel the way they did given the circumstances. Definitely need to read a book like this every now and then.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-71887043940029279152008-06-06T14:57:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:07:48.269-08:00Gerald's Game<a href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/geraldsgame.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/geraldsgame.jpg" alt="Gerald's Game" border="0" /></a>What was supposed to be a romantic weekend away with her husband turned out to be a horrible nightmare for Jessie. She is fed up of his sleazy sex games but she comes to regret the moment she kicked him in his crotch, causing him to have a fatal heart attack and leaving her handcuffed to the bed, all alone at their cabin where her screaming is heard by no one. During the hours she spent attached to the bed, Jessie is haunted by the voices in her head which represent different personalities and eventually help her get out of the situation she got into. Other than the voices in her head, her only other company is 'Prince', the dog which comes inside the cabin to feed on Gerald's body, and 'The Space Cowboy' which is her visitor at night, except she doesn't know if he is real or her mind is playing tricks on her. This is a psychological novel and although King includes some gruesome bloody details, the horror lies within Jessie's thoughts and her fight for survival. It keeps you wanting to know what happened next and although it's not the best I've read by Stephen King it did keep my interest. The voices of Ruth, Goodwife Burlingame and Punkin are real in a situation like this, where the brain isn't entirely functioning well and when in fear the conflicting voices represent your own thoughts and speculations. King also explores the doubts one encounters when in fear, where you can't distinguish between reality and your imagination running wild due to the state of panic you are in. The ending has an interesting twist. When you think you can breathe a sigh of relief that Jessie made it, you learn that perhaps her 'The Space Cowboy' wasn't just a figment of her imagination and there might be more to it than that.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-75754164625659789952008-05-11T13:25:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:07:29.093-08:00A Thousand Splendid Suns<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/athousandsplendidsuns.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/athousandsplendidsuns.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The book starts with Mariam, a young girl living in Herat, Afghanistan, with her bitter mother. Mariam was born out of wedlock when Jalil, a wealthy man slept with his servant. She spends her days eagerly waiting to see her father, which visits once a week. She loves him dearly and her mother always warned her that he doesn't treat her as his other children. One day Mariam went to her father's house but he wouldn't see her, and after spending the night outside his house she went back home only to find her mother had committed suicide. Mariam's story continues when at 15 years old, Jalil and his wives marry her to Rasheed, a widow which is much older than herself and lives in Kabul. Things didn't turn out right for Mariam in Kabul either. After she had a miscarriage Rasheed turned into a violent man but Mariam was strong and went through it. When Rasheed married Laila, a much younger girl, Mariam feels threatened but eventually they become the best of friends and help eachother to endure Rasheed's bad temper. They plan to run away to Pakistan together but this doesn't work out and when they return home Rasheed locks them up both. This was a very sad story during the Soviet occupation and then the reigh of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the author paints a true picture of the unimmaginable sorrow that the people in this country had to go through in these times of war as well as how women are treated by men like Rasheed. I was appalled by Mariam and Laila's unfortunate story and I was hoping that in the end everything turns out right for the two. I was dismayed when I found out Mariam's fate after her selfless act to save Laila from Rasheed. On the other hand I was happy that Laila finally got married to her childhood friend Tariq and together they had a family and were helping to fix up the orphanage in Kabul. This is another book by Khaled Hosseini that I enjoyed reading thoroughly. I like how Hosseini's writing seems to just flow and how the ending of this book was happy and sad at the same time. I hope we will be seeing more books of this kind from this author written with the same passion that The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns holds.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-66678001222796482922008-04-22T14:05:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:06:52.520-08:00The Kite Runner<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/thekiterunner.jpg" alt="The Kite Runner" border="0" />An emotional story based in Afghanistan about a boy, Amir, and his struggle to live up to his father's expectations. The 12 year old Amir is so determined to win his father's affection that he even turns his back on his best friend Hassan when he sees him being raped by the neighbourhood bully. Amir can't live with his actions and what he did haunts him until he is a grown man. When Rahim Khan, his father's long time friend, asks him to return home, Amir sets on a mission "to be good again" and is determined to make things right this time. I felt this story is told with such passion and it gives a true picture of the lives in Afghanistan. By showing the situation in Afghanistan and Amir's life after he moved to America, this book makes you realize how little you know about this country that you hear so much about. It is beautifully written and I was hooked right away, wanting to know what happens next. It is heartbreaking reading how loyal Hassan was to Amir, only to be betrayed by him. What captured me was that throughout the whole book the author managed to keep my interest the whole time, from the very beginning starting to know about Hassan up until the end finding out how life changed in Afghanistan and what happened to Hassan's son Sohrab. It also contains a surprise factor where in some situations I never expected things to happen that way, this is one thing that makes a book so appealing for me, when the things that happen aren't so predictable. I could read this book all over again and I would enjoy it just as much as the first time.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-32200001718686579202008-04-12T03:53:00.001-07:002009-02-19T11:06:10.443-08:00Lost Boy Lost Girl<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/lostboylostgirl2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/lostboylostgirl2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A very intriguing story which starts when a woman commits suicide and nobody really knows the reason. At first you get the impression that she was unhappy with her life and her husband didn't do much to help that, but in fact the book goes much deeper than that when her son, Mark, discovers a mysterious house. What he manages to discover in the house reveals a secret that few know and are willing to talk about. His adventure started with a mission, to find the reason behind his mother's death, which he believed had something to do with the house on 3323, Michigan Avenue. The story is told from Tim Underhill's perspective, Mark's uncle, which is a writer and is determined to find out what happened to Mark when he goes missing. Everyone thinks that mark has been yet another victim of the Sherman Park killer, but Tim knows better. This book is full of suspense and I think Straub did a great job at keeping the reader hooked. This was the first book I read by Peter Straub and I will be definitely looking for more books by him. I used to think that Stephen King was the best author for Horror Novels, but Straub certainly matches his abilities, if not outdo him. I liked his style and it was hard putting this one down. The ending was very unexpected, and although some might have been disappointed by it, I enjoyed it and thought it was like a twist to the "and they lived happily ever after" ending. I am very curious to read the books jointly written by Peter Straub and Stephen King and see what they managed to cook up, should be interesting.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-85584382520632818682008-03-13T15:39:00.000-07:002009-02-19T11:05:38.243-08:00The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon<img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/pizu60/Books/tomgordon.jpg" alt="The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" border="0" />This book revolves around a nine year old girl called Trisha Mcfarland. During a hike with her mother and brother, she decides to stop and take a bathroom leak while her mother and brother are arguing, mainly about their parents' divorce, which Trisha is very fed up of hearing about. When she starts walking again she gets off the trail and is lost in the woods. The rest of the book describes Trisha's survival in the woods, eating checkerberries and nuts and drinking water from the stream while knowing that someone, something, the 'subaudible', is keeping an eye on her and waiting for her to ripen enough before it feasts on her. Most of the time I found this book to be dragging, and felt like the author was trying too hard to make the situation sound scary and introduce fear and suspense, however for some reason it wasn't working for me. More often than not I thought he took too long trying to describe the gory details and wanted him to move on. Not to mention the continuous references to the game of baseball which I didn't get, but that is because I have no idea about baseball and it only seemed like a minor incovenience. The story picked up again near the end when Trisha finally found a road and at that point it got me hooked. I was a little disappointed with this book, I have read a few of King's books and loved them, but this one just didn't seem like it was from the same author. It's enough to say that this book took me about 6 months to complete, albeit that it has only some 300 pages. The story wasn't gripping enough and that made it hard for me to pick it up and continue reading.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4948101128121280659.post-4958944237087399712008-03-12T15:00:00.000-07:002009-02-22T06:27:54.708-08:00IntroHello there. I have just created 'Book Archive' with the aim to document my thoughts on the books that I read. I have read many books but although I remember what the book was about, somewhere down the road I forget the details and what my views were on the book and all I am left with is a vague idea. I have been meaning to do something like this for a while, but didn't quite know how to implement such a thing. I recently started blogging and have been finding it quite fun, so I thought why not create a blog and post my thoughts on the books I read on it?<br /><br />I don't expect that anyone would be reading this blog, I am mainly doing it for me, but I am actually writing this intro in case someone stumbles across my blog and wonders what is the purpose of such blog.<br /><br />I will be posting my first book review shortly, I have been waiting to finish a book to start the blog and this is the time. Don't expect that I will be posting a book review every day, not even every week probably. I won't be reading more than usual just to update the blog, but when I finish a book I will be sure to write about it here. On the right hand side you can see which books I am currently reading, and essentially the books that I will be reviewing next !<br /><br />For more generic stuff you can visit my main blog <a href="http://aapolskis.blogspot.com/">here</a>. You will won't you? And possibly even leave a comment to make me happy.Avidan Apolskishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927114608095393291noreply@blogger.com0