Bogormen

Title: Eat, Pray, Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 480
Date read: November, 2010

At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for balancing. These destinations are all on the beaten track, but Gilbert's exuberance and her self-deprecating humor enliven the proceedings: recalling the first time she attempted to speak directly to God, she says, "It was all I could do to stop myself from saying, 'I've always been a big fan of your work.'"

It's a tribute to the quality of this book, that I was able to read it just two days after having seen the movie (which was great!) and still loved it! Usually I have to be careful not to read/watch a story too soon after having watched/read it, as the latter will inevitably fall short of my expectations. This is why I actually wasn't planning to read this for quite awhile yet, but after seeing the movie, I just couldn't help myself.

And it was well worth it - the book was just as terrific as the movie had lead me to believe it would be. I'm incredibly impressed by Elizabeth Gilbert's bravery in leaving everything known for so long, and travelling to three countries as different as Italy, India and Indonesia. Must admit that Italy was the only country where I really felt motivated to go myself, but I was also very inspired by her experiences at the ashram in India. Don't think I could ever do something like that myself though.

Fascinating book, and a quick read, as it's split up into a lot of short chapters (1-5 pages each), so it was really easy to convince myself "just one more chapter!" - and suddenly I had read another 50 pages!

Highly recommendable.

Title: No Plot? No Problem!
Author: Chris Baty
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 176
Date read: November, 2010

Chris Baty, motivator extraordinaire and instigator of a wildly successful writing revolution, spells out the secrets of writing -- and finishing -- a novel. Every fall, thousands of people sign up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which Baty founded, determined to (a) write that novel or (b) finish that novel in -- kid you not -- 30 days.

Now Baty puts pen to paper himself to share the secrets of success. With week-specific overviews, pep "talks," and essential survival tips for today's word warriors, this results-oriented, quick-fix strategy is perfect for people who want to nurture their inner artist and then hit print!

Anecdotes and success stories from NaNoWriMo winners will inspire writers from the heralding you-can-do-it trumpet blasts of day one to the champagne toasts of day thirty.

Well-written book, and it even got me motivated to try out my hand at NaNoWriMo - and I CAN'T WRITE! So that gives you an impression either of how deluded I am, or how good the book is.

Filled with good tricks for how to write a 50,000 novel in a month, it's not really relevant for anything else - so don't expect to pick up any general writing tips from it. But it's an interesting read, and one I'd recommend to others whose create juices need a swift kick.

Title: The Year of Living Like Jesus
Author: Edward G. Dobson
Genre: Memoir, Christian nonfiction
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 288
Date read: November, 2010

Evangelical pastor Ed Dobson chronicles his year of living like Jesus and obeying his teachings. Dobson's transition from someone who follows Jesus to someone who lives like Jesus takes him into bars, inspires him to pick up hitchhikers, and deepens his understanding of suffering. As Dobson discovers, living like Jesus is quite different from what we imagine

I wavered between giving this 3 and 4 stars, so consider this a 3.5 star review.

I read The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs earlier this year, and was really taken by it, so when I heard about this book, I was interested in seeing how it would measure up.

Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to my expectations. It's not quite as interesting as The Year of Living Biblically, and Ed Dobson has a tendency to start sermonizing which is a bit frustrating, when you really just want to read about how his year is going.

All in all, I would have been more interested in reading about him trying to live a year of following the Gospels, than of following the Christian Jews. He even says himself that the traditions of Jews now are nothing like the traditions of the Jews of Jesus' time - so why even bother?

I still consider it well worth reading though, as Ed Dobson does bring up some good points - even if he approached the year differently from what I had hoped.

Title: The Story of a Soul
Author: Saint Therese of Lisieux
Genre: Christian non-fiction, biography
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 166
Date read: November, 2010

St. Thérèse's autobiography was first published soon after her death in 1897 at the age of twenty-four. Combining charming descriptions of family and community life with a sense of humor and intense devotion to God, it desribes St. Therese of Lisieux's desire, not to be mighty and great, but to be a humble, little flower that would gladden God's eyes as He glances down at His feet.

I put this book on my to-read list after having heard and read Gretchen Rubin (of "The Happiness Project"-fame) rave about it in her book and on her blog. I was fascinated, and it was cheap, so I thought "Why not."

It was an odd book to read though, because though I found it extremely difficult to relate to St. Therese, I was still touched by her simplicity - for want of better word. I don't mean that in a condescending way. She was honestly satisfied with loving Jesus and asked for nothing more than His love in return. I could definitely benefit from trying to imitate her there. On the other hand, the book was not very well written - written, as it were, by request from her Mother Superior - as it jumps from topic to topic, leaves threads hanging all over the place and skips over what I would have considered important elements of her life.

It's very obviously the story of a soul, and not the story of a life. It's her autobiography as viewed from her way of thinking and of believing - not an account of how she lived. Since I expected the latter, I was disappointed. Had I known to expect the former, I think I would have been charmed.

Title: Glimmerglass
Author: Jenna Black
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 294
Date read: November 2010

Dana Hathaway doesn't know it yet, but she's in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she's had it with being her mother's keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl - she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go...

Good, but with reservations. I had issues with it and felt that it could have been a lot better of certain aspects had been handled differently.

It was a fast read, and I surprised myself by how quickly I got completely caught up into it. I loved the premise and the universe, where the magical world was well known, but kept apart from the human world, and the two only interacted in Avalon - and even more that Avalon wasn't reserved for those with magic, but that people actually went there as tourists on vacation! Fascinating idea! I love book placed in "our" world / time where magic plays a part.

I really liked Kimber and Finn, but hated Aunt Grace. She reminded me too much of Prof. Umbridge from Harry Potter - and that is NOT a good thing. Dana herself... well, I mostly liked her, but I did think some of her actions were hopelessly naive taking her rough childhood into consideration. She accepted things far too quickly and without any real questioning.

Most of all, however, I really disliked the ending. Dana's father's ruthlessness was appalling, and he has yet to prove to me that he cares more about Dana herself, than the power she'll give him. I hope the next book will prove me wrong.

Also, I didn't like the cover much :-/ That's very much a minor issue though ;)

Title: Monday's Child
Author: Louise Bagshawe
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 437
Date read: November, 2010

According to the old rhyme, Monday's Child is fair of face - but life isn't always so simple.

Gorgeous goddesses seem to surround script-reader Anna Brown - from her deranged glamour-queen boss to her perfect, pouting flatmates. For Anna, being less than beautiful is hard to bear. With a dead-end job and a ghastly boyfriend she wonders if she can ever be a success. In fashion crazed London, maybe being talented just isn't enough.

Enter Mark Swan, Britain's hottest director. Rugged, reclusive and powerful, everybody wants a piece of him - from studio heads to supermodels. He could be Anna's ticket to the top, but how can she ever hope to snag such a big star? Fed up of being downbeat and dowdy, Anna decides to chase her dreams, and, with a little help from her friends, embarks on a madcap scheme to get just what she's after.

Almost every other Louise Bagshawe book I've read, I've loved and found utterly impossible to put down. Therefore it came as a huge surprise to me that not only was this not the case for this one, I was actually somewhat bored with it at times.

It had its good parts - I loved the friendship that developed between Anne and Janet - but as a whole it was predictable and unrealistic (well... even more than her books are usually ;) ), she spent far too little time on the aspects of the book that I found most interesting and about half-way through dropped them altogether, and the ending felt forced. I could have forgiven her the two first things, as it could still have been a sweet book and a fun escape from reality, but without the interesting work details and with a deux ex machina ending, it just all adds up to a book that isn't really worth rereading.

So why did I still rate it a 3 rather than just a 2? Because despite everything, Louise Bagshawe still writes well enough for her writing to keep me interested, even when her plot can't, and at the end of the day, I didn't have to force myself to finish the book, but actually did so completely voluntarily :)