January 2009 - Book 1

Things without a name by Joanne Fedler.

When I saw this book at the Bookclub I was immediately attracted to the cover (unfortunately no image available on Amazon) and that was the sole reason I chose it. The main character of the book works as a social worker with a woman's rescue centre and one is immediately struck by the sense of hopelessness that this type of work sometimes involve. Her personal and family life ill equipped her to deal with theses situations and at best, she is emotionally unstable herself.

However the book turns at a stage towards a positive message - as her personal life takes an upturn you spot the positive in her work as well. At the end of the book, a list of names used reflect real life abused people as a sort of eulogy which gives the book a new meaning. I found myself paging back and looking for the characters and reflecting on the connection with their real life counterparts.

This book really made me reflect on a subject that seems to only surface once in a while in a newspaper article or on the TV news. It makes these poor abused people so much more real in your mind.

In general, a good and provocative read. It does have the obligatory romance at the end, but in this case it serves well to turn towards the positive.

A solid 7/10

So this what it is all about.

As a child, my favorite place in the whole world to visit was a book store or the library. I could get lost in them - spend hours and hours. My dream was to have a huge bookstore filled with books. I just love to smell a new book, to hear the pages turn and the back band bend. I love books!I taught myself to read at around age 5 and has never stopped. I can always find the time to read - even while tandem breastfeeding twins, I always have a book with me - in case I have to queue somewhere, in case I have to wait for someone - I'll read. I'll read in the car, while eating lunch, while dressing, everywhere. Not in the bath though - I have way too much respect for a book to subject it to a watery plunge. That's what magazines are for. I buy a lot of books but I also belong to a Book club where we create a pool of books to borrow.

In my PK (Pre-kid) days I used to read a lot - really a lot. About 50 plus books a year! I found that after my children's birth and as they grew up, I read less and less. Not that I'll ever stop! It is just way less than I used to. I never make New Years resolutions, but did decide that for 2009 I will put a goal to myself - to read 36 books this year - that brings me to 3 a month. This blog is an attempt to review and report on my progress - I have a hand written book journal that I have been keeping for years. Off course, I have 6 months of books to catch up on reporting in this blog!

This also creates an opportunity for my friends in the blogging community to see what I am reading, to hopefully participate and give their own comments and to aid them in choosing books to read themselves. I do sometimes read books in my Mother tongue, which might not be available in English, in which case I will try to recommend another book by the same author that has been translated or I will take an older review out of my journal and publish it. Enjoy!