by Judi Dench

as told to John Miller

***** (5/5)

Autobiography: And Furthermore by Judi Dench

Click here to buy the book And Furthermore by Judi Dench (with free delivery)

Book Review:

This autobiography of Judi Dench’s career was a fun and easy read. As an actor myself, I loved reading about her stage productions and the different experiences, directors and actors she encountered. Dench comes across extremely down to earth and hard working actor with a playful sense of humour. I read the book with a mixture of envy and awe – Dench was actually fought over to play Shakespeare’s Cleopatra by two directors, Peter Hall and Terry Hands, who had both decided to direct the play at the same time!

The autobiography, as told to John Miller, contains lots of stories about the productions that she acted in throughout her long career, a couple she directed and also touches on some major personal life events – meeting her husband Michael Williams, their daughter Finty, the fire that destroyed their first home and Michael’s death. I was surprised about how candid she was in recounting her bad experiences with productions – run-ins she had had with theatre directors, or how disorganized a film set was. She goes into the negative experiences she has had as much as the positive ones.

I loved reading about Dench’s playful side. She is such a trickster, always enjoying a good laugh. One example is the long running challenge that developed between her and one of her actor colleagues Tim Piggot-Smith to see who could return a black leather glove to the other in the most unexpected places – usually on stage. The game has become so well known over the years that when questioned by the audience, someone always asks, ”Where is the glove now?” I guess it’s stunts like this and other more subtle games Dench and her fellow actors play on stage that keeps them going through a 6 month run of the same show!

Dench recounts her Oscar experiences when she was nominated for Mrs Brown and Shakespeare in Love. She even kept a diary of the days leading up to the first one because she knew how surreal it would be. It was fun to read about her amazement and awe at the experience, to know that even seasoned actors get excited and swept up in it all. Dench, who won the Oscar for her supporting role in Shakespeare in Love, said, “I was so surprised to win it for eight quick minutes with bad teeth.”

This is a good book for actors as well as people interested in theatre, not to teach you about acting, but to get an insight on how Dench lives the life of an actor, as well has her attitude towards working in theatre. I read ‘And Furthermore’ with a healthy dose of jealousy, but moreover received inspiration from a veteran actor whose work I really admire.

I’ll end with an anecdote about Anthony Hopkins who was playing Anthony to Dench’s Cleopatra in Peter Hall’s production for the National Theatre (Hall won out in the end). Hopkins never minded not being in the fifth act, in fact he actually loved it. In his death scene, as he was lying cradled in Cleopatra’s arms, he would whisper, ”I’m going upstairs to have a nice cup of tea. You do Act V, and I’ll have a nice cup of tea.”

Love that!

x Julie

Online Bookstore and Book Review Site

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Eoin Colfer

Science Fiction / Children’s Books / Young Fiction Ages 8-12

Click here to buy the Book: The Supernaturalists by Eoin Colfer

Click here to buy the [Audio Book: The Supernaturalists by Eoin Colfer]

Book Synopsis:

Future, Satellite City.

Cosmo Hill is 13 years old and lives at the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. Cosmo Hill is an orphan, otherwise known as a ‘no-sponsor’. No-sponsors are put to work by the government as human lab-rats. Day in and day out, they test dangerous products. Night in and night out, they sleep in their cardboard utility pipes covered in scars, sores and burns from their hard day’s work.

Cosmo Hill needs to escape. But how? Cosmo prepares for the day when he can make his daring getaway from Clarissa Frayne…

After a tumultuous escape, Cosmo is saved by a gang of kids with amazing psychic powers. They are able to see ‘supernatural parasites’, invisible creatures who suck the life force of humans. Cosmo finds that he has psychic abilities of his own.

And this is where the adventure begins…

My Book Review:

Eoin Colfer is a young peoples writer and I enjoyed reading his first Artemis Fowl book (I’m about to read the second Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident). However, I guess I was expecting something more sophisticated when I bought the audio book for The Supernaturalist. I found it in the Sci-Fi section, and assumed it was an Adult Sci-Fi book. I realize now from Eoin Colfer’s website that the book is meant for 8-12 year olds!

I was not personally engaged with the story. However, I am really of the wrong demographic to judge this book so harshly. If I were pre-teens, I would probably quite enjoy this book. I think that The Supernaturalist contains characters that young people would identify with.

The story has larger then life characters (or in this book’s case, smaller than usual), and has high stakes and big twists.

I thought the narrator, Jack Davenport, was very easy to listen too, as well as being a very capable narrator. He shifts accents for almost every character, which sounds like he’s just showing off his range at first, but it also adds an extra multicultural aura to the futuristic Satellite City. However, the choice to make Stephan’s voice so deep, drew me away from the ‘reality’ that the characters are all young people, teenagers themselves. In the audio book, I began to think of them more as adults because of this choice and I think it would have been more effective for me if I been able to imagin them as teens trying to save the world.

If you have children, or are looking to buy a gift for a child, or if you are a child, I think you’d enjoy the adventure and imagination in Eoin Colfer’s books.

Click here to read my review of Artemis Fowl

x Julie

Online Bookstore and Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits

The Daywalker Chronicles: Volume One

by S.M. De Silva

***½~ (3.5/5)

Fiction / Vampires

Click here to buy the book Blood On The Moon by S.M. De Silva (with Free delivery)

Singaporean buyers can click here to order their copy (free delivery and gift wrapped!)

Click here to visit The Daywalker Chronicles official site

Book Synopsis:

Sleet City: decadent and alluring, but infinitely dangerous. A city where crime, cruelty and glamor reign supreme. Vampires and were-creatures have come out of the closet and now mix openly in human society. Vampires are the new breed of celebrities, the glamor gods of Sleet City.
Alegria, a Singaporean supernatural species consultant, receives a package. A package that contains a ring. A ring attached to a severed finger. A severed finger belonging to Alegria’s sister.

And from here the relentless action begins. Alegria is on a mission to save her sister from Sleet City.

My Book Review:

I was really excited when I was asked by S.M. De Silva to review of her debut novel: Blood On The Moon. The Daywalker Chronicles: Volume One. [My first advanced review! Reading Like Rabbits is taking off!] But I was also nervous. What if her book was rubbish, badly written, or worse, boring?

It was none of these things. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume One and can’t wait for her 1st book to be a roaring success, so I can read Volumes Two and Three!

De Silva has joined the Vampire novel craze! In her world, Vampires and Weres have come out of the closet, and are living openly in our world. It’s not surprising that most of the celebrities on the red carpets have turned out to be vampires, with their immaculate figures and dazzling good looks. [This makes perfect sense to me. I've always suspected Nicole Kidman of being a Vampire] And humans have gone mad for them, vampires are all the rage.

Blood on the Moon contains action, dark pasts, sexual tension, and most importantly an endearing protagonist: Alegria – a Eurasian woman from Singapore who is a supernatural species consultant, with some natural gifts of her own.

The action begins right from the first chapter when Alegria receives a horrifying gift. A diamond ring, attached to a severed finger. Her sister’s finger. This takes her to Sleet City, to the mansion of Joao, Prince of the City… I wont give anymore of the plot away, you’ll just have to read it to find out more.

The story flows easily with exciting turns and revelations. There were only a couple of moments where the logic did not quite fit for me and it took a little while for my suspension of disbelief to kick in. But these were only minor. I’m also not used to reading about a Singaporean character, so when Alegria mentions a pair of tigers in her back yard, I immediately thought “There aren’t any tigers in Singapore anymore!” but then I had to remind myself, there aren’t any Vampires either… or are there…?

I particularly enjoyed De Silva’s humorous footnotes, which provided interesting facts and details pertaining to Were and Vampire culture, among other digressions. There’s also a mouthwatering section where Alegria teaches a werepanther to make debal curry. Yum!

De Silva has created a full, detailed and imaginative world of Sleet City and Vampire culture. Blood On The Moon is rather cinematic in its construction and pace and I can easily see it being made into a movie. [I'll be first in line to audition for the role of Alegria. She'd be a fun and challenging role to play. Though I'm not sure I'm the right type of Eurasian]

S.M. De Silva is a promising new writer. I know she’ll just get better and better!

I want to read the next 2 installments in the trilogy so click here to pre-order Blood On The Moon: The Daywalker Chronicles Volume 1 from Amazon now!

[Note: There is only free delivery for the book Blood on the Moon in Singapore. Go to The Daywalker Chronicles website to find out more.]

x Julie

Book Reviews

Reading Like Rabbits

by Eoin Colfer

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Artemis Fowl, a genius criminal mastermind has succeeded in establishing the existence of fairies, and is determined to catch one. After staking out over 100 fairy locations, Artemis succeeds in kidnapping LEPrecon Captain Holly Short.

But these aren’t the toadstool-dancing creatures of fairy tales, these are trained law enforcement fairies, and they are ready to fight back. Just when Artemis Fowl thinks he has them cornered, the fairies stop playing by the rules.

FYI: Artemis Fowl is a twelve-year-old.

My Book Review:

I flew through this book.

Artemis Fowl is just like a hostage-situation action movie. The only difference being, the bad guy is 12-years-old and those under siege are tech savvy fairies who live near the earth’s core. In fact, Eoin Colfer has described it as “Die Hard with faries”.

The characters in Artemis Fowl include Artemis, a villainous scheming child (who reminds me of Stewy in Family Guy) who may have a prickling of a conscience (unlike Stewy), a centaur (very much like Q in James Bond), a huge hunk of a bodyguard, a fuming LEP-recon commander, and history’s first female LEP-recon officer.

I should explain. We humans don’t know this but “the word ‘leprechaun’ actually originated from LEPrecon, an elite branch of the Lower Elements Police”. No bucked shoes and knickerbockers in this book! (That was their old uniform).

Eoin Colfer creates a vivid fairy culture, dispelling our pre-conceived ideas of the fairy world.

This is a fast paced, funny story packed with action and other-worldly intrigue. This is the first of 6 in the series so far and I’m definitely going to read the rest of the series!

These books also come as BBC Audio Books which you can buy as a gift for kids for bedtime story listening or to keep the peace on long car journeys.

x Julie

Book Shop and Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Andy Riley

Adult Picture Book / Gift

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Little fluffy rabbits who just don’t want to live any more. This adult picture book, and its sequel, Return of the Bunny Suicides, contains endless ways for a bunny to kill itself. From smoking out of every hole in its body, to flushing itself down an aeroplane toilet, to kicking an alien in the balls, this ridiculously funny book is a fountain of knowledge on rabbit self-killing.

Book Review:

This is the sort of picture book I can pick up again and again (with a little time to forget in between) and marvel at the creativity of the bunnies (and the author – sick sick man) in designing their own deaths. These books which can come combined as A Box of Bunny Suicides would be a great present for a male or female friend with a sense of humour (a bit of advice: do not give this to a depressed friend with no sense of humour). My favourite bunny suicide is a bunny about to turn on the switch of hand mixer. The blades are placed inside its mouth. The idea of what the next moment may look like is gruesome yet oddly thrilling…oh dear…

x Julie

Book Shop and Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Elisabeth Robinson

***** (5/5) Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

This novel is told in the form of letters from Olivia Hunt to her sister with cancer, Michael her ex-boyfriend, her parents and her best friend. Along the way we find out about the progress or non-progress of Olivia’s feature film that she’s trying to get off the ground in Hollywood.

Through Olivia’s letters we track the progress of her year, and are privy to her thoughts, the varied way she communicates with people, her highs and lows and also just the plain usual things that happens day to day that find themselves into her letters. Simply yet powerfully told, this novel simultaneously funny and sad, tragic and heart warming.

My Book Review:

This is why I started this site – to find and share books just like this one. I walked into a used book shop and bought this novel for $2. It did say ‘International Bestseller’, but I had never heard of it before. What a find! The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters is a simply written yet extremely engaging, funny and moving novel. It’s written in the form of letters by one of the sisters, Olivia Hunt. She writes to her friend, her sister, her ex-lover, and as she is a down and out Hollywood Producer, we also follow her correspondence in trying to get the movie Don Quixote made.

This book begins when Olivia finds out her sister, Maddie, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Through the letters Olivia writes, the reader gets to know the intricate workings of her family, Maddie’s weakening yet buoyant spirit and Olivia’s inner world – writing to her ex-lover possibly her soul mate, Michael, who won’t write back, as well as her Hollywood movie making exploits.

Finishing an amazing book is like having said good bye to an old friend. Bitter sweet. You miss their presence, you want them around again, but you know they’re gone and you just have the memories to savour. This is how I feel now about this book. Olivia’s voice is personal and rings true. If she were a real person I’d like to be her friend.

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters has sad content but is surprisingly uplifting throughout. Even while I was crying, with tears that were blocking my ability to continue reading, I was laughing.

x Julie

Book Shop and Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits-

a memoir

by Jeanette Walls

***** (5/5)

Memoir/Autobiography

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

The Glass Castle is an extraordinary memoir of a dysfunctional yet effervescent American family. Jeanette’s father is an intelligent, compelling figure, who educates his children on geology, physics and joie de vivre. However, more often than not, he was a drunk who was caustic and dishonest.

Jeanette’s mother was a free spirit who loved painting but hated conformity and the domestic life of raising children.

And so, Jeanette and her siblings grew up taking care of themselves. Jeanette became a successful writer in New York, a place where her parents eventually moved, choosing out of their own free will to live homeless.

In The Glass Castle, the behavior of Rex and Rose Mary Walls is shocking and unacceptable, yet at the same time, it is abundantly clear that they possess deep love and loyalty for their children. It is this contradiction that makes this memoir so gripping.

My Book Review:

I read this memoir in disbelief.

It begins with the adult Jeanette sitting in a taxi, stuck in New York City traffic, on her way to a party, when she sees her own mother in rags picking through the trash. Despite Jeanette trying to help both her mother and father countless times, her father would always say they didn’t need anything and her mother would ask for something silly like electrolysis treatment. “They said they were living the way they wanted to.”

And so begins a fascinating look back into the true life of this strange, unconventional but loving family.

Rex is an intelligent, well read man and Rose Mary is artistic, and they choose to live life they way they want to live it. The couple are fiercely anti-establishment and seem unwilling to provide for their children (despite their apparent intelligence and skills they are very often jobless and extremely poor) and yet they love their children intensely. They simply don’t function the way we expect people (especially parents) to function, choosing to live life according to their own rules. They are infuriating in their negligence, but at the same time they shine in their individuality and are absolutely captivating – they are characters that are so well written, it’s hard to believe they are not fiction.

I won’t give away too much, just one example from the 2nd Chapter. Jeanette is severely burned because she was cooking for herself – a regular activity for her – at the age of 3. Three year old Jeanette was standing on a chair in front of the stove when her dress caught fire. They brought her to the hospital (a rare decision for this family, who would either go to a witch doctor, or to no one at all, when their children were injured) Then, prematurely broke her out of hospital “Rex Walls style”.

A few days after their escape, when Jeanette started cooking for herself again, her mother said, :

“Good for you…You’ve got to get right back in the saddle. You can’t live in fear of something as basic as fire.”

They were peculiar because they seemed incapable of looking after their children in some ways, but at the same time had a strict sense of conduct when it came to things like chewing gum, “A disgusting low class habit.” This is just the beginning, this memoir is filled with stories just like this, if not more astounding, and my heart went out to the children who suffered the brunt of Rex and Rose Mary’s choices.

The actions and inactions of Jeanette’s parents are so ironic that this memoir is addictive. The Walls parents choose to live this strange and ‘unsuccessful’ life in the conventional sense, but they have a good sense of humour and seemed to be content with their decisions much of the time. I almost wonder if I should do the same and truly follow what I feel. I know I would never do that, I like my comforts and sticking out of the crowd is not something I’d aspire to. But I suspect Rose Mary and Rex Walls were actually happy in the way they chose to live their life.

x Julie

Book Shop and Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Jill Murphy

Children’s Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

The Worst Witch:

Mildred Hubble joins Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. But it doesn’t take her long to realize that she is possibly the worst witch the school has ever had.

Mildred is a klutz, can never get her spells right, and has a tabby cat who is terrified of broom-flying.

However, Mildred may have been able to pass under the teacher’s radar, if the mean Ethel Hallow hadn’t decided to become her worst enemy.

A few more books from the series:

A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch:

Can Mildred shed her reputation as the worst witch of Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches? She tries her best, but as usual for Mildred, things go horribly wrong for her…

The Worst Witch All at Sea:

Mildred and her class of young witches are going on a school outing to the seaside! But Mildred can’t find the heart to leave her tabby cat alone for a whole week, so she brings him along with her. But will Mildred be able to stay out of trouble this time? Especially with the strict Miss Hardbroom and her devious enemy Ethel Hallow out to get her…

My Book Review:

This is Harry Potter for younger readers. The Worst Witch is endearing and exciting with magic spells, people being turned into frogs, a scarily strict teacher, a horrid enemy classmate and loyal friends.

I loved the childrens series The Worst Witch when I was a kid. The Academy for Witches seemed just like a normal school – just with broomstick lessons and spells classes! This book is also very funny with Mildred getting into all sorts of scrapes. Mildred is so hopeless that even her cat, Tabby, is a terrible witches cat. This is wonderfully reflected in the drawings in the book with Tabby, his eyes squeezed shut, clinging onto the broomstick for dear life.

There are at least 5 books in the Worst Witch series and I think primary school girls would love reading them, just as I did.

There are also Audio-CD versions of most of the series for car rides and bedtime listening.

x Julie

Children’s Book Review

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Michael Cunningham

***** (5/5)

Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Three women.

1920s London. Virginia Woolf attempts to begin her new novel, but she is struggling to settle her unruly mind.

1940s Los Angeles. In the stifling heat, Laura Brown, a young mother and wife aches to abandon her domestic life to escape to the solitude of reading Mrs Dalloway.

1990s New York. Clarissa Vaughan hosts a party for a dying friend.

Michael Cunningham uses the life and works of Virginia Woolf as inspiration for a moving reflection on love, failure, despair and artistic behaviour.

Why I love this book:

Immediately upon finishing this book, I was so moved that I made the firm decision that I needed to visit my elderly grandparents in England – and I’m so glad I did. I guess it’s because the novel deals with death, making me want to seize the moment, carpe diem and all that.

It’s not all about death though, it’s about the lives of three distinct women – their daily lives, their thoughts, their relationships with the people around them, and more importantly their own internal relationship with themselves.

The Hours is beautifully yet simply written, and is one of my tip-top favourite books. My mother says that Beloved by Toni Morrison changed her life, and for me it’s The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Maybe I wouldn’t say it ‘changed’ my life, but it certainly had a significant impact and helped me make a positive decision, one that I had been storing away and ignoring.

x Julie

Book Shop and Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

and

Spy’s Guide

Illustrated by Colin King

Children’s Non-Fiction Book

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Detective’s Handbook Synopsis:

Being a detective is challenging and extremely thrilling. You must be well trained, alert and patient to be a good detective. He must be able to create a whole story from the tiniest clue at a crime scene. He must be on the lookout for criminals and be prepared to chase down a baddie if necessary.

The Detective’s Handbook teaches you special detective skills, such as dusting for fingerprints, identifying handwriting, questioning witnesses and finding clues.

Full of advice, tips and hints, this handbook for young detectives will prepare you for when your skills are put to the test!

Spy’s Guide Synopsis:

Have you ever wanted to be a top-secret spy? Have you ever wanted to learn now to decode secret messages, disguise yourself and stalk the enemy? This book will show you how to train yourself to be a good spy!

The Spy’s Guide is full of ways to hide messages for allies, tips and tricks to cover up secret meetings, and how to create disguises and play the part successfully. Learn how to fool the enemy and uncover their secrets!

My Detective’s Handbook and Spy’s Guide Book Review:

I was a little detective as a child and these Usborne books fed my imagination heartily (In a healthy, safe way).

These Spy and Detective Guides are packed with colourful pictures, activities and mysteries to solve. They cover so much, from how crooks work, to tracking, stalking and shadowing, to looking for fingerprints.

My primary school friends and I would play detectives and use secret signals and signs to alert each other about imaginary crimes. We had secret message drop offs that we would pass by before and after recess. We also used to send signals to each other through colour-coded home-made rings. It was fun!

The Usborne Detectives Guide would be a great gift for a boy or a girl aged about 8-11. So if you have a curious niece or nephew, these book would be perfect for them.

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

By Richard Bach

Photographs by Russell Munson

***** (5/5)

Fiction / Inspirational

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Seagulls fly to find to food. Seagulls eat. Seagulls survive. This is seagull law. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull has discovered the sheer joy and pleasure of flying and swooping and diving. Because of this, Jonathan is banished by the seagull elders. But Jonathan still continues to fly, expanding his horizons and searching for his higher purpose.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a fable about seizing life by the horns, and following your dreams, even if it means going against the norms of the flock.

A story that will inspire you to follow your dreams, so that you can soar too.

My Book Review:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a beautiful and inspiring story. After reading it, I feel like I can do anything. IF I choose to. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut in your mind, but when you read Jonathan’s story you want to join the race to learn and to shed all your limitations. Bach writes, ‘Break the chains of your thought and you break the chains of your body too’.

This book is wise and accessible, told simply from the point of view of a frustrated seagull with dreams and aspirations higher than what his fellow seagulls could ever comprehend. Russell Munson’s photographs which are scattered throughout the book, of seagulls in flight, cement the idea of flying and freedom. There are so many quotes I want to extract from this book, but you really have to read it to understand.

I have read Jonathan Livingston Seagull twice now, and have decided I should read it periodically, to remind myself that ‘whatever stands against freedom must be set aside’ and that nothing can be achieved without practice. Give this inspirational book as present to yourself or to others.

I also recommend another Richard Bach story Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.

x Julie

Book Show and Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Maurice Sendack

***** (5/5)

Children’s Fiction / Children’s Picture Book

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Where The Wild Things Are is about a little boy called Max dressed up in his monster suit who gets sent to bed without any supper for making mischief. He defiantly created a forest in his bedroom, travels by boat and ends up where the wild things are. The wild things are monsters who gnash their teeth, but Max stands up to them and therefore becomes their king. But he misses home, and his mum, so he gives up being king of the wild things and makes the long journey back home.

Why I love this book:

Where The Wild Things Are is a classic children’s book about an imaginative boy who conquers and makes friends with monsters. If you have or know a child who is scared of monsters in the cupboard or under the bed, this book may help them see monsters in a different way and empower them to face their fears.

Where The Wild Things are has recently been made into a motion picture by Spike Jonze, in which a friend of mine played a Wild Thing!

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits

by Shirley Hughes

Children’s Fiction, Picture Book

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Summary:

Alfie’s Feet is a charming book primarily about… Alfie’s feet. He counts his little sister’s toes with the rhyme ‘This little pig went to market…’, he wears his old brown shoes to splash about in puddles, but discovers that his feet, shoes and socks get all wet. So his mother buys him a shiny new pair of yellow wellington boots. This will help him keep his feet dry, but why do they feel so uncomfortable?

Why I love Alfie’s Feet:

I still have fond memories of reading Alfie’s Feet. Shirley Hughes’s expressive illustrations of the cubby-cheeked children are magnetic, and there is so much to look at in her drawings. Alfie’s Feet will help children learn vocabulary to do with well…feet…but also what goes on your feet, some movement verbs and adjectives, as well as the importance of left and right.

x Julie

Children’s Book Reviews

-Reading Like Rabbits-

by Shel Silverstein

***** (5/5)

Children’s Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Cover Synopsis:

“Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy. So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk…and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree and the tree gave and gave.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another’s capacity to love in return.

Why I love The Giving Tree:

The Giving Tree is my absolute favourite children’s book. Its a children’s book, but it’s content is sophisticated and will touch the heart of any adult.

It is a love story between a boy and a tree. The tree possesses unconditional love for a young boy, and the boy, like all of us, grows up and wants more and more from life and the tree. With its simple black and white drawings, The Giving Tree is extremely moving and has powerful messages relating to the environment and the nature of love.

When my mother read The Giving Tree to my sister for the first time, she ended up in tears. It is a heartbreaking, but beautifully told story, that gently teaches us valuable life lessons.

This is the most powerful children’s book I’ve ever read. It would be perfect as a gift or as a teacher’s resource.

x Julie

Book Reviews – Reading Like Rabbits

by Helen Fielding

***** (5/5)

Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Cover Synopsis:

Bridget Jones wants to have it all – and once she’s given up smoking and got down to 8st 7lbs, she will. Bridget Jones’s Diary is about a year in the life of a single girl on an optimistic but doomed quest for self-improvement. A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something? Bridget Jones is everyone’s favourite Londoner. This is your chance to reacquaint yourself with the funniest, most heart-warming young lady ever to grace the pages of a Picador book.

Why I love Bridget Jones’s Diary:

I do love Bridget. She’s gawky, clumsy, does insanely stupid things, doesn’t look perfect, is terrible in love, kind, loyal and therefore adorable. Her quirky language and desperate measures to improve her love life, career and general appearance are both identifiable and amusing. There are some priceless moments of humour in that book.

I rarely read books twice over, but I have read Bridget Jones at least three times. I read it when I want to feel better and have laugh. A curious thing happens when I am reading her diary – I tend to start thinking like her, seeing things from her point of view. It’s weird but rather fun, and I feel safe with the knowledge that though I understand her, I’ll never be quite as ridiculous.

The movie of Bridget Jones’s Diary is just as good, one of the few adaptation films that I think lives up to the original. With the charming Colin Firth, dashing Hugh Grant and a Renee Zellweger with a decent amount of flesh on her, what’s not to like.

The sequel, Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason, is also enjoyable, though her first diary is still top of my light reading book list.

So if you need cheering up or just want a bit of a laugh, I highly recommend reading Bridget Jones’s Diary.

It would be great as a gift for a girl friend (if she hasn’t already read it).

x Julie

Book Review

- Reading Like Rabbits

by Edward Gorey

Fiction, adult picture book

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Wikipedia Synopsis:

The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing is an abecedarian book written by Edward Gorey that was first published in 1963. Gorey tells the tale of 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) and their untimely deaths in rhyming dactylic couplets, accompanied by the author’s distinctive black and white illustrations.

My Book Review of The Gashlycrumb Tinies:

The Gashlycrumb Tinies was given to me as a present from a friend. I loved its macabre nature but had to wonder what in MY nature had caused him to think of me when he saw this book.

This book is gleefully horrible as through rhyme, picture and alphabetical order, we expectantly follow 26 children to their deaths. Gross, I know. But funny too. They die of amusing, unexpected things. The pictures are the best part about it, they often depict the moment before or just after death, so you are squirming with anticipation with the imagined horrors.

For example:

“P is for PRUE trampled flat in a brawl”

with the picture depicting Prue alone on a street about to open the door to a saloon.

I have to say, this adult picture book is deliciously sick. But do make sure whoever you give it to has a good sense of humour!

[If you enjoy this type of humour, have a look at other books by Edward Gorey at The Book Depository]

x Julie

Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell

****~ (4/5)

Non-Fiction

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

Why do some people achieve so much more than others?

Can they lie so far out of the ordinary?

In his provocative and inspiring new book, Malcolm Gladwell looks at everyone from rock stars to professional athletes, software billionaires to scientific geniuses, to show that the story of success is far more surprising than we could have ever imagined. He reveals that it’s as much about where we’re from and what we do, as who we are – and that no one, not even a genius, ever makes it alone.

Outliers will change the way you think about your life story, and about what makes us all unique.

My Book Review:

Malcolm Gladwell’s books are the sort of books in which you unwittingly exclaim out loud while reading, immediately spouting out little facts and discoveries to whomever is within listening range. I had so many dinner time stories to share during and after reading this book, I felt like a little fountain of interesting and unique information.

I hesitate to bring up too many examples of the discoveries that Gladwell reveals in Outliers, for fear of giving the punch-lines away. Lets just say that it was an informative and smile provoking read that confirmed many of my suspicions about the path to success:

Hard work + Circumstances = SUCCESS!

For those of us who don’t really ‘get’ the word Outlier straight off, Gladwell starts the book with the definition:

“out.li.er

1.something that is situated away from or classified differently from a main or related body.

2.A statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.”

I was a little confused by this definition, but it soon became clear that it was about people who lay outside the realm of ‘normal’, who had special abilities, be it mathematical or musical genius, had earned piles of money or tons fame, or even a group of people who somehow managed to evade illness.

Outliers is about HOW these people got to the top. The results are surprising as well as obvious.

Minor Spoiler Alert!

I’ll bring up two examples and no more.

The first example that is quite obvious but still important to know:

It takes people 10,000 hours to become really great at something, be it playing the piano, or becoming a computer whiz. Hard work and practice, practice, practice are the key.

The second example is a surprising insight is about Canadian hockey players who manage to make it to the big league. Canadian hockey is thought of as a meritocracy, however, a vast majority of players are born in the early part of the year. This is because the cut off date for age class hockey is January 1st. Therefore, those children born in the early part of the year are naturally older and often bigger, giving them an early and immediate advantage. This advantage can stay with them their whole hockey career, having been given the seemingly minor but massive head-start of being born at the right time of year.

[Tip for parents to be, plan to have your child at a time that coincides with the primary school cut off date of your favourite sport.]

Gladwell demonstrates with interesting examples how ones economic and social circumstances, the year and even month they were born, and who their ancestors were contribute significantly to who you become and how you behave. Legacy plays an important part – legacies dating back generations have an effect on how you act and react in your daily life.

I enjoyed reading Outliers, the examples were surprising at times and although his insights sometimes seem obvious once you’ve read them, they act as a confirmation that you can work towards success (10,000 hours, here I come!), and also make you wonder what cards your circumstances have dealt you, and if you are limited or freed by them.

One of my favourite chapters was the one about how Korean Air (a previously freakily dangerous airline to fly on) transformed itself after acknowledging legacy.

Read it, you’ll feel smarter after.

x Julie

Non-Fiction Book Review

- Reading Like Rabbits

I – My Father Bleeds History

II – And Here My Trouble Begin

by Art Spiegelman

***** (5/5)

Fiction, Graphic Novel

Click to buy this book (free delivery)

Book Synopsis:

“The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human.” – Adolf Hitler

Maus is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father, his father’s terrifying story, and history itself. It’s form, the cartoon (Nazi’s are cats, the Jews are mice), succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of our any lingering sense of familiarity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. It is, as the New York Times Book Review has commented, “a remarkable feat of documentary detail and novelistic vividness…an unfolding literary event.”

Moving back and forth from Poland to Rego Park, New York, Maus tells two powerful stories: The first is Spiegelman’s father’s account of how he and his wife survived Hitler’s Europe, a harrowing tale filled with countless brushes with death, improbable escapes, and the terror of confinement and betrayal. The second is the author’s tortured relationship with his aging father as they try to lead a normal life of minor arguments and passing visits against a backdrop of history too large to pacify. At all levels, this is the ultimate survivor’s tale – and that too, of the children who somehow survive even the survivors.

Part I of Maus takes Spiegelman’s parents to the gates of Auschwitz and him to the edge of despair. Put aside all your preconceptions. These cats and mice are not Tom and Jerry, but something quite different. This is a new kind of literature.

Why I love Maus:

Yes, this is a graphic novel, but don’t be fooled by its form. You simply cannot be snooty and turn your nose up at this particular comic strip. This cartoon is history. I have a fascination with stories about the Holocaust because I cant quite believe how it could have happened and that people can be so horrifically cruel. (I should state here that I of course believe it happened, I just can’t believe it happened.)

In Maus, the Jews and Nazi’s are anthropomorphized as mice and cats respectively, distancing the reader from reality making it seem more like a story, a fairy tale, than a biography. But very soon, once you become familiar with the characters, and as the story moves into darker areas, the cats and mice become powerfully human, menacing and vulnerable, dragging you headlong into the fear of the Nazi occupation.

I found Maus a simple yet sophisticated insight into the personal life story of a Holocaust survivor, and the shell-shock that remains with such survivors for the rest of their lives. You can’t help but have compassion for the grumpy old man Vladek Spiegelman becomes, because you realise what hell he’s been through.

There is also some humour in Maus, as you identify with the son, (and author) Art, in his dealings with his stubborn father. Also, people of other races are depicted by different animals – for example, the French are frogs, the Poles are pigs and the Americans are dogs. This may seem that Spiegelman is typecasting, but he is actually showing how ridiculous it is to classify a human being based on their ethnicity.

Maus took a total of thirteen years to complete and is studied in English literature courses as well as courses on Jewish culture. If you have older children, read it with them.

This book is accessible, intensely moving and important.

x Julie

Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

***** (5/5)

Fiction

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Book Cover Synopsis:

Over five years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazara, a member of the ethnically shunned minority. Their intwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave behind the memory of Hassan behind him.

The Kite Runner is a novel about friendships, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel’s faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.

Why I loved The Kite Runner:

Khaled Hosseini is my favourite writer. I was reading The Kite Runner while on holiday in Cambodia and I spent all the time I wasn’t at Angkor Watt reading! It has been a long time since I read it, but it has stayed in my memory as one of my favourite books. I will read it again soon and review it properly. But there’s no need to wait for that review, just read The Kite Runner.

Hosseini’s next book A Thousand Splendid Suns is equally riveting.

x Julie

Book Reviews

- Reading Like Rabbits