“Burnt Shadows” by Kamila Shamsie (Pakistan) Favourite Extract She walked past the vegetable patches on the slopes a few days ago and saw the earth itself furrowing in mystification: why potatoes where once there were azaleas? What prompted this falling-off of love? How to explain to the earth that it was more functional as a vegetable patch than a flower garden, just as factories were … Continue reading Burnt Shadows
The four shortlisted books for this year’s Summer Reading Group varied greatly in length, style of writing, and author’s experience from the seasoned writer to the relative newcomer. Our summer readers also noticed the recurrent presence in all four books of evil in its many forms! When it came time for voting, the choice for Best Summer Read 2013 was unanimous: “The Devil I Know” … Continue reading Best Summer Read 2013 – The Devil I Know
“The Sickness” by Alberto Barrera Tyszka (Venezuela) Review Most readers liked this book saying that they found it easy to read, more so because of the style of writing and its length (150 pages) than its subject matter. They felt that the story had some universal themes (obsession, communication, death) and that it could have been set anywhere. A lot of the readers found the … Continue reading The Sickness
“The Lake” by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan) Review Mystical and mysterious were some of the words readers used to describe this book that they thoroughly enjoyed. Most were familiar with the author having read other of her books and they liked her writing style, which they found captured the atmosphere well. They were drawn to the two protagonists feeling a mixture of sympathy and interest for … Continue reading The Lake
“Goodbye Lucille” by Segun Afolabi (Nigeria) Review Readers were pretty much equally divided about this book, with half the group enjoying it, while the other half found it disappointing. Everyone agreed that it was an easy read, written in a clear language, and that the story was well crafted. They also liked the fact that it gave them a strong sense of time and place, … Continue reading Goodbye Lucille
“The Gaze” by Elif Shafak (Turkey) Review Readers had a difficult time getting into this book finding both the language and the narrative hard to follow. Some didn’t manage to finish it, but those who did were very glad they had persisted, because about a third of the way through they felt that the pieces started to fit together. The main story is told from … Continue reading The Gaze
“Hustle” by Will Ferguson (Canada) Book Club Favourite of Season 17 Review Most readers really enjoyed the book finding that, once they got into it, they were hooked and couldn’t put it down. They felt the use of language, with its many colloquialisms, was wonderful and gave them a clear sense of the place and time. Readers thought that the historical and socio-economic elements running … Continue reading Hustle
“Departing at Dawn” by Gloria Lisé (Argentina) Review With its subtitle “A Novel of Argentina’s Dirty War”, readers said they found the story to be completely different from what they had imagined. Instead of getting details of the horrors of a military dictatorship, which is what they had been expecting, readers felt they were given an introspective and interesting look at life in that context from … Continue reading Departing at Dawn
Nicola's Book Club 