Elinor’s Bookshelf

My rating: A pearl – an absolute pearl! In mid-19th century London, begins an atmospheric story of theft, love, and lack of honesty - or, perhaps, as you’ll discover if you read the book, at times too much of it. Susan Trinder gets involved in a deceptive thieving scheme with a villain of her knowing. But it goes further than she has intended, and she gets tangled in a web of secrets, and rides a twisting, ever-surprising rollercoaster of emotions. If London crooks can be cruel, so can country gentlemen. This is my first Sarah Waters (I know, I know...!), and it was perfectly paced, my curiosity and eagerness maintained throughout and apexing towards the end of the book (and keeping me up all hours)! It had all the right ingredients for me - the wicked underworld of 19th-century London, its dark streets and devious deeds; the Victorian country houses; the worlds of ladies and lowly villains entwined. Not to mention, love. It is beautifully written, with a deep and clever plot, a...

My rating: Call the Midwife, the first of a trilogy by Jennifer Worth, née Lee, is a memoir of the author’s work as a midwife, working with the nuns of “Nonnatus House”, in the East End during the 1950s. It is a collection of comical, sad, mischievous, happy, and unexpected true tales of poverty-stricken large families living in post-war London, often in squalid tenements, deemed unfit for human habitation. In this educational, warm, easy, and humane book, the reader gets a glimpse of sleeping by the Cut, pig breeding, boys never found in secret hideouts, the discrete lives of nuns, and the maddening heartbreak of poverty, adoption, and brutal loss. There has always been something about Cockneys, which is perfectly portrayed here: rough around the edges, fundamentally kind, and always up for a good laugh! This book really worked well for me, at times I was thoroughly engrossed, checking the map of London, reading up on workhouses, Cable Street (what has this street not been priv...

My rating: What a ride! Suzanne Collins delivers yet another page-turner! In this third volume of the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen faces the consequences of shooting an arrow through the ‘chink’ of the forcefield in the 75th edition of the Games. Some contestants have escaped to district 13, others remain in the grips of the Capitol. An innocent-looking scented white rose sends her a clear warning. Will Katniss rise up, become the Mockingjay, and set alight the rebellion brimming under the surface of the districts? I love the writing in this book. Page after page, chapter after chapter, we delve into the intricacies of human relationships, of what can drive us crazy, pull us back to our true selves, the things we cling to, those that we cannot let go, the power of hope. The first two books were about the games - this is about a game outside the Games, it is darker, more powerful, more real. The story isn’t rushed, we get to grips with what is happening, know and understa...

My rating: This book is an absolute hoot - Arthur Dent wakes up one morning and is on a mission to prevent the demolition of his house. Little does he expect what his friend, Ford Prefect (a chap in charge of updating “The hichhiker’s guide to the galaxy”), is about to announce: the Earth is minutes away from total annihilation. Thus begins this most improbably adventurous and humour-peppered read. Only in this book can a spaceship commit suicide from talking with a depressed robot, a president have two heads and three arms, the answer to the most unfathomable question be given before it is actually asked (kudos to “Deep Thought”). Recommendations? 42. View all my reviews

My rating: « You may have known more about who you were then, than you do now. » In this work of quiet perseverance, author Susan Cain explores in-depth the introversion/extroversion personality trait, and some related theories. She delves into the physiological and psychological make-up of introverts and extraverts in a Western society where the ‘Extrovert Ideal’ has prevailed and we are all expected to sell, even ourselves. The author talks from personal experience, and subjects herself to multiple ‘experiments’, meets with subject matter experts, and interviews introverts over several years. She talks mainly about the US and, to a lesser extent, Asian American population in a bid to introduce cultural differences that promote/demote introversion. There was little reference to gender-specifics, which I expect would account for some of our differences, certainly in today’s western societies. The author careful avoids common pitfalls by: treating introversion/extroversion as a f...

My rating: In ”We Should All Be Feminists”, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie explores the theme of gender, and more specifically gender inequalities. Naturally including culture as an subconscious enabler of inequalities, she argues that we should all be more gender-conscious, and erase the differences we, sometimes unwittingly, nurture between men and women from the workplace to the intimacy of Nigerian and American friends’ households and society’s distinct expectations towards men and women’s sexualities. A few thoughts caused me mild resistance, which I won’t detail here to avoid spoilers. I found this to be a short thought-provoking piece with a willingly provocative title. I felt I was given an open window on Nigerian culture, at least a whiff of it, and loved the privilege. This piece also reminded me in a sideways manner about “Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office” by Lois P. Frankel, and of the true, deep impact of history and education on gender differences....

My rating: In this second volume of the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen prepares to become a mentor of the next Hunger Games tributes for district 12, before the traditional Victory Tour of all districts of Panem. Katniss’s heroic rebellion against the Capitol during the 74th edition of the hunger games causes a surprise visit by President Snow. He is here to ask here to pull off her best acting part yet. Will she rise to the occasion or let him down thus endangering her nearest and dearest? In the meantime, her Mockingjay has become a symbol beyond the reach of her own understanding. I found this an easy read, quite a page turner, I guess I would have liked the third part of the book to be both a little more abrupt and a little longer, perhaps the final twist was a little too predictable and lacked build up. I definitely am looking forward to reading the third and last volume of the trilogy! View all my reviews

My rating: The “Stranger” tells Adam a terrible secret about his wife Corinne. The web of deceit Adam subsequently discovers could destroy everything, ruin their picture-perfect American-dream style life, destroy their two boys, and their family as a whole – or worse. This was my first Harlan Coben (I know, I know...). I found the build-up to the finale really solid, efficiently written with dashes of humour here and there. I was almost instantly hooked, this is good thriller and a fast read, as well as an invitation to reflect on deceit, lies, and the cost of truth. View all my reviews

My rating: This is, in my opinion, the least well written of the trilogy. With unusual clumsiness Ken Follett brings together concurring events spanning a 30-year period, with protagonists hardly ever crossing each other’s paths, in stark contrast to the first two volumes where the plots are cleverly close-knit, and each character introduced with intent. The characterisation is less intense: all the 3rd generation characters are, to a certain extent, similar, and for some reason I empathised less with them than the previous two generations. That said, I also felt I was reading History, with a capital ‘H’. A history that shaped my parents’ generation, from the end of segregation, to Flower Power and sexual freedom, through womens’ rights, the assassination of JFK, the fall of the soviet block, and of the symbolic Berlin Wall. The book was surprisingly turned towards the USA and Eastern Europe, leaving the West of Europe, and Asia out (there is a short passage on the Vietnam war)....

My rating: I don’t usually like dystopian fiction, and thought I wouldn’t really enjoy the book. How wrong I was about that - in fact I am a bit annoyed with myself as cannot get matching editions of all three books – ugh. This book turned out to be a real page-turner despite its predictable storyline. Easy to read, fast-paced, sometimes funny, sometimes scary, it kept me up way past my bedtime! View all my reviews

My rating: In this second part of his historical epic, dedicated to his grandparents, Welsh author Ken Follett, picks up a few years after the first volume closes off. We reunite with the 5 families from the first part of the trilogy (Russian, English, Welsh, German, and American), including their offspring. The story portrays the war from their different perspectives (country, class, generation), depicting the political situation that inevitably led to the Second World War, and ultimately to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the beginning of the Cold War. As Adolf Hitler rises to power, the brownshirts, and the SS, repress and silence opposition using horrific violence, targeting rival parties and the minorities, among which the Jews, the handicapped, and the gay community. There are some unpleasant scenes in the book; however, they seem always to serve the narrative. We travel across Europe, from Germany to Spain and Russia, to the United States via Great Britain, an...

My rating: In her impressive debut novel, Gail Honeyman introduces Eleanor Oliphant, a highly intelligent and articulate, yet rather comically socially inept character. Eleanor has no social life and chats with her mother on Wednesday evenings. She has a day job, and keeps to herself. She also spends her week-ends downing vodka alone at home. But Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Or is she? The writing is superb, and we discover a deep and scarred protagonist. Eleanor has a “Don Tillman” quality but you can tell from the top it runs much deeper, and there is no hint of Asperger’s. I quickly found myself wanting to know more, and was both amused and fascinated by her sometimes wild fantasies, sometimes incredibly down to earth attitude, not to  mention her complex relationship with her unpredictable mother. This book was a page-turner, and thoroughly enjoyable, funny, profound, thoughtful, moving and full of  kindness, and tolerance. I absolutely loved it! View al...

My rating: When you both hate with a vengeance and love how a book made you feel, you know you are holding more than a bunch of words scattered on paper: A Work of Art - both moving and consuming. The story is sordid and beautiful, melancholy and captivating. Its intricate and entwined storyline makes it not the easiest or fastest to read – yet very appealing to the detailed mind. It is very sad, real, and raw – any glimpse of light you may get lulls you into a false sense of security only to be later blanketed with despondency. Many see in this book a story about homosexuality - I do not. It is about psychological destruction, sexual abuse, resulting self-harm, the paradoxical opposition between looks and reality, and how we get ensnared in the shortcomings of our own habits and patterns of thought. If you don’t want sadness or too many negative feelings, don’t read this book. It is a difficult, emotionally wearing read, the balance tipped always towards the dimmer side of an...

My rating: To me the book is interesting and gives some information about the American prison system. It does feel like many things are left unsaid in particular about her friendships and relationship to her ex-girlfriend, which come over a little shallow. I believe Piper Kerman has lots to say about the prison system, why it isn’t working, and how it can be improved. That, to me, is the crux of the book - such a shame so little is actually said about it - it could be so much bolder, and blunter! View all my reviews

My rating: This debut novel by Deepti Kapoor reflects on Indian culture and its paradoxical stance with regard to womanhood. The protagonist, a respectable unmarried young lady, gets secretly involved with an older man. The book starts the moment he gets killed, and all that is left is a story to recount. In my view, the title refers mainly to the heroin of the book, "A bad character" by Indian standards. That is "old India", of course. The book depicts, through the adventures of this raw and sometimes feral young woman in Delhi, how the country is at a captivating crossroads where old and new mingle, irreversibly intertwine against their own wills, pushing both forwards and backwards at orthogonal angles, neither being quite able to prevent, ignore or subdue the other. This is an intense book, with an original, rich, and intriguing writing style. I can still smell the spices and feel the vibes of colourful Indian night-life. View all my reviews