Sunday, 21 March 2010

Kate Mosse: Labyrinth

When Dr Alice Tanner discovers two skeletons during an archaeological dig in southern France, she unearths a link with a horrific and brutal past. But it's not just the sight of the shattered bones that makes her uneasy; there's an overwhelming sense of evil in the tomb that Alice finds hard to shake off, even in the bright French sunshine. Puzzled by the words carved inside the chamber, Alice has an uneasy feeling that she has disturbed something which was meant to remain hidden... Eight hundred years ago, on the night before a brutal civil war ripped apart Languedoc, a book was entrusted to Alais, a young herbalist and healer. Although she cannot understand the symbols and diagrams the book contains, Alais knows her destiny lies in protecting their secret, at all costs. Skilfully blending the lives of two women divided by centuries but united by a common destiny, LABYRINTH is a powerful story steeped in the atmosphere and history of southern France.

This is a fantastic read, although it is predictable in places and sometimes I also found the descriptions a bit too slow. However, I liked the idea of the labyrinth trilogy and how the stories around Alais and Alice are connected.

Sunday, 14 March 2010

Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol

Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object – gruesomely encoded with five symbols – is discovered at the epicentre of the Rotunda. It is, he recognises, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom. Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America’s most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

The story is interesting and although there is a wealth of information to process, the storyline can be followed easily and sounds feasible most of the time. I found the strand around Ma'lakh fascinating and surprising. However, once the fast-paced action ends the book drones on for too long to solve the remaining mysteries.

Sunday, 7 March 2010

Ruth Newman: Twisted Wing

Cambridge is home to 18,000 students, 1,500 academics - and one serial killer. The discovery of the headless, mutilated body of a female undergraduate in her bloodsoaked college room heralds the start of a series of bizarre and extremely violent murders. For the students of Ariel College, a siege mentality has developed following weeks of media interest in the 'Cambridge Butcher'. University life has become not about surviving their exams, but surviving full stop. Forensic psychiatrist Matthew Denison is sure that his traumatised patient, student Olivia Coscadden, has the killer's identity locked up in her memory. That within the little clique she belonged to lurks someone with a grudge. Someone who has yet to finish settling their score. In order to get to the truth, Denison must delve into the secrets hidden within Olivia's subconscious. Secrets that are about to lead him into a nightmare beyond imagining.

This is a fascinating mystery and psychological thriller with some unexpected twists. Dr. Denison is a very likeable character and the storyline is presented in an intriguing but feasible manner. A chilling read!

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Dan Brown: Angels and Demons

When a world renowned scientist is found brutally murdered, a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man's chest. His conclusion: it is the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years - now reborn to continue their bitter vendetta against their sworn enemy, the Catholic church.
In Rome, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair - a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.
But, with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the plot, which leaves Langdon and Vetra reeling and at the mercy of a seemingly invincible enemy.


Again, a historic fact/fiction thriller with fascinating art symbols and a pacy story. Robert Langdon is an interesting character, as he is so knowledgeable about old symbols and art history, yet does not throw himself into any police action easily. Vittoria's appearance as Leonardo Vetra's adopted daughter and her involvement in sciences is also well developed. The stories surrounding Max Kohler and the Camerlegno, Captain Rocher and Captain Olivetti seemed somehow far-fetched, but what makes a good book is that the reader ís surprised and Dan Brown clearly surprised me in the book's final chapters. Again, however, I did not like the physical tension and attraction between Robert Langdon and Vittoria, as this is unfeasible and artificial...

Monday, 22 February 2010

Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code

Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor of symbology, receives an urgent late-night call while in Paris: the curator of the Louvre has been murdered. Alongside the body is a series of baffling ciphers. Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Da Vinci - and further. The curator, part of a secret society named the Priory of Sion, may have sacrificed his life to keep secret the location of a vastly important religious relic hidden for centuries. It appears that the clandestine Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect Opus Dei has now made its move. Unless Landon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret - and a stunning historical truth - will be lost forever.

Although I'd started reading the book several times, I could not get into it initially. This time, however, it was different and I enjoyed the read. I know from various TV programmes that not everything described in the book is true, but the story has been developed in a way that it does sound feasible. I also liked the fact that Langdon is not the typical hero of a mystery story and shows many flaws in his characters. The one aspect I didn't like about the story was the fact that there seemed to be some tension between Neveu and Langdon, which given the circumstances of their meeting is not logical and feasible at all.

Monday, 15 February 2010

Jodi Picoult: Second glance

When a plot of land is being developed in Vermont against the will of a local Native American tribe, strange things begin to happen - and Ross Wakeman, a paranormal investigator, is asked to get involved. He's a desperate drifter who's taken up ghost hunting in an effort to cross paths again with his fiancee, who died in a car crash eight years ago, but he has yet to experience anything even remotely paranormal. Then Ross meets Lia. As a seventy-year-old murder case is reopened, a shocking secret about a crime of passion long past is revealed.

The story about the paranormal activities would have been fantastic, had it been developed in greater detail. For my taste, there were too many characters that seemed interesting but then weren't important or important enough to be analysed in more details, as for example Az Thompson and Lucy. Also, the coincidences and relationship issues around Ross, Meredith, Eli and Shelby weren't feasible. A somewhat disappointing Picoult.

Sunday, 7 February 2010

Douglas Hurd: Ten minutes to turn the devil

As an MP, Douglas Hurd would write a new short story every year during the summer Parliamentary recess. This collection comprises ten tales, including a moving account of a family in Bosnia (The Last Day of Summer), a caper about drugrunning off Florida (A Suitcase Between Friends), and a grimly realistic Ulster vignette (Fog of Peace). Each of these stories reflects the intelligent concerns of a politician engaged in, and committed to, both the everyday world of domestic matters and at the highest level.

The stories were interesting for their factual content and the political issues they covered. However, the short stories themselves as a genre were not well developed in my view and so I wasn't overly impressed with the writing.

Saturday, 30 January 2010

Karen Joy Fowler: The Jane Austen Book Club

Six people – five women and a man – meet once a month in California’s Central Valley to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but each of them is wounded in different ways, they are all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable – under the guiding eye of Jane Austen a couple of them even fall in love…

The book reminded me rather a lot of Elizabeth Noble's "The Reading Group", which at times was rather irritating me. The members of the reading groups meet at the different houses each month to discuss one novel by Austen and eventually they get to know each other and the reader gets to know each member. I liked Jocelyn, Bernadette, Prudie, Grigg, Allegra and Sylvia as characters but found some of their stories too far-fetched. A nice and light-hearted read, though.

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Gervase Phinn: All these lonely people

Even with a huge problem to worry about, Father McKenzie still manages to see the good in everyone. His job is made more difficult by his nosy housekeeper and the gossips from the shop down the road. Will they succeed in spoiling things, or will Father McKenzie’s advice win the day? This charming tale shows the ups and downs of everyday life in a truly heart-warming way.

Although the topic might seem that this could be a slow read, the story is fast-paced and fascinating. It was interesting to find out the people's stories and why they are all so lonely that they turn up in church. And in the afterword the author explains the inspiration for his story around Miss Eleanor Rigby, Father McKenzie and the lonely people.

Saturday, 23 January 2010

Xinran: Miss Chopsticks

This is the uplifting story of three sisters who, like so many migrant workers in today's China, leave their peasant community to seek their fortune in the big city. The Li sisters don't have much education, but one thing has been drummed into them: their mother is a failure because she hasn't managed to produce a son, and they themselves only merit a number as a name.Women, their father tells them, are like chopsticks: utilitarian and easily broken. Men, on the other hand, are the strong rafters that hold up the roof of a house. Yet when circumstances lead the sisters to seek work in distant Nanjing, the shocking new urban environment opens their eyes. While Three contributes to the success of a small fast-food restaurant, Five and Six learn new talents at a health spa and a bookshop/tearoom. And when the money they earn starts arriving back at the village, their father is forced to recognise that daughters are not so dispensable after all. Xinran has become known for her wonderful ability to take readers to the heart of Chinese society.

This is a lovely story with fairy-tale quality and lots of humour. Although Three, Five and Six come from the same family they are very different, yet in their own ways they are all successful. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is Five who is usually considered as "dumb and no-brains" that seems to have learnt best how to cope in the city and how to flourish despite the lack of education she experienced in her home village. However, this book also gives a great insight into Chinese culture and how China is now opening up to the Western world and in many ways seems trapped between ancient traditions and modernity.

Monday, 4 January 2010

Lyn Andrews: A mother's love

Eve and Eddie Dobson have been running the George pub in Liverpool for over twenty years. Now the Depression is taking hold and, with money in short supply, life becomes more difficult for the family, but at least their three daughters have never been a worry. Lily dreams of going on the stage, Sarah seems content to slog away as a waitress and Maggie's gently directing her devoted boyfriend to the altar. But when Eddie's flirtation with the hired help takes an unexpected turn, everything changes, leaving none of Eve's family untouched and calling on all the strength of a mother's love.

This is an intriguing story about the roles and responsibilities of different family members showing how the action of just one family member can cause the entire family to change and be uprooted. The characters are well-developed, believable and mostly likeable. Most of all, however, it was great that the story does not end in a total happy-end, although Lily's dramatic situation seemed a bit too far-fetched at the time. I did, however, enjoy reading about the life in a period, where there were no mobile phones or computers, and not even any cars....

Saturday, 2 January 2010

G. Schilddorfer und David Weiss: Ewig

Das Geheimnis der Kaiser - eine blutige Spur - ein uralter Code - ihn zu lösen, bringt den Tod!
Umgeben von brennenden Kerzen, die ein geheimnisvolles Symbol darstellen, liegt der Tote. Der brutale Mord in der Wiener Ruprechtskirche ruft Journalist Paul Wagner und Wissenschaftler Georg Sina auf den Plan. Sie sind einer mysteriösen Mordserie auf der Spur, die vor Jahrhunderten begann. Bald müssen Sina und Wagner selbst vor einem gnadenlosen Killer fliehen - und sie entdecken, was auf dem Spiel steht: die Zukunft der Menschheit!

Die Geschichte von Sina, Wagner und Berner, die dem Geheimnis des Friedrich III. und des ersten chinesischen Kaisers auf der Spur sind und dabei auch noch rätselhafte Morde zu klären haben, ist nicht nur mitreißend, sondern auch informativ. Die Autoren verbinden Fakt mit Fiktion in einer solchen Leichtigkeit, dass der Leser Lust verspürt sich selbst auf die Suche nach dem Geheimnis der Kaiser zu machen. Einzig Major Valerie Goldman und die damit verbundene, angedeutete, mögliche Liebesbeziehung zu Georg und/oder Paul und die Geschichte ihres Großvaters trüben das Lesevergnügen. Ansonsten ein Buch zum Immerwiederlesen....

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Philipp Vandenberg: Das fünfte Evangelium

Die junge, couragierte Anne von Seydlitz ist der Verzweiflung nahe, als ihr Mann, ein Münchner Kunsthändler, bei einem mysteriösen Autounfall ums Leben kommt. Das einzige, was ihr bleibt, ist ein Film, dessen Aufnahmen alle dasselbe Motiv zeigen: ein Pergament mit einer alten koptischen Inschrift. Bald wird Anne klar, daß dieses Schriftstück ein Geheimnis birgt, denn für das Original wird ein phansatischer Preis geboten. Die Suche nach dem verschwundenen Pergament führt sie nach Paris, wo gerade ein amerikanischer Professor in die Schlagzeilen geraten ist, der einen scheinbar völlig unmotivierten Säureanschlag auf ein Bild von Leonardo da Vinci verübt hat...

Das war eine interessante und zum Teil auch plausibel geschriebene Geschichte über die Geheimnisse der Bibel und ein Evangelium, das die Kirchenväter und -anhänger in deren Glauben schwer erschüttern könnte. Die Figur der Anne von Seydlitz war ebenfalls gut nachvollziehbar und faszinierend. Leider wurde gegen Ende hin das Buch immer wirrer und obskurer, und die Anhänger des Orphiker-Kreises, die Schar um Hanna Louise und die Jesuitenmönche machen das Buch skurril. In allem ist das hier eine interessante Geschichte, die aber leider nicht zu Ende geführt werden konnte und daher eigenartig wirkt.

Thursday, 24 December 2009

Vikas Swarup: Q & A


Former tiffinboy Ram Mohammad Thomas has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz-show to win a cool one billion rupees. But he is brutally slung in prison on suspicion of cheating. Because how can a kid from the slums know who Shakespeare was, unless he is pulling a fast one. In the order of the questions on the show, Ram tells us which amazing adventures in his street-kid life gave him the answers. From orphanages to brothels, gangsters to beggar-masters, and into the homes of Bollywood's rich and famous, Ram's story is brimming with the chaotic comedy, heart-stopping tragedy and tear-inducing joyousness of modern India.

What a fantastic read!
I really enjoyed the stories that lead to the answers to the W3B questions. Also, it was great to learn so much about India, the country, its people and its history. I've always been fascinated by the Taj Mahal, but having read the book, I really want to see it now... And what was best about the book was that it is like a big Bollywood fairy tale with a great ending!! I cannot wait to see the film now...

Thursday, 17 December 2009

Asne Seierstad: The Bookseller of Kabul

Two weeks after September 11th, award-winning journalist Asne Seierstad went to Afghanistan to report on the conflict. In the following spring she returned to live with a bookseller and his family for several months. The Bookseller of Kabul is the fascinating account of her time spent living with the family of thirteen in their four-roomed home. Bookseller Sultan Khan defied the authorities for twenty years to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the communists and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. He even resorted to hiding most of his stock in attics all over Kabul. But while Khan is passionate in his love of books and hatred of censorship, he is also a committed Muslim with strict views on family life. As an outsider, Seierstad is able to move between the private world of the women - including Khan's two wives - and the more public lives of the men. The result is an intimate and fascinating portrait of a family which also offers a unique perspective on a troubled country.

This book is a fantastic read and as I am currently quite heavily involved with people from Muslim background and as an Indian friend of mine got married in an arranged wedding recently, I could relate to the story incredibly well. It is an amazing and shocking story and Seierstad explained well the relationships between the family members and the difficulties of free speech and free thoughts amongst women.

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Sue Monk Kidd: Die Bienenhüterin

Lilys Mutter ist vor zehn Jahren umgekommen. Ihr Vater herrscht wie ein grausamer Rachegott über die inzwischen 14-jährige. Eines Tages flieht Lily aus der bedrückenden Atmosphäre ihres Elternhauses, wandert über die staubigen Straßen der Südstaaten, um ein neues Zuhause zu finden. Sie begegnet wunderbaren Menschen, rettet mit Mut und Klugheit ein Leben und findet bei drei Frauen Unterschlupf, die, wie im Märchen, in großer Eintracht zusammenwohnen. Die drei Schwestern geben dem Mädchen alles, was es braucht: Liebe, Halt, und Geborgenheit. Sie nehmen Lily in ihre Familie auf und Lily lernt alles über die Bienenzucht. Sie erfährt, wer ihre Mutter, die sie so schmerzlich vermisst, wirklich war, und sie verliebt sich. Doch eines Tages steht ihr Vater am Gartentor ...

Die Geschichte ist wunderschön und faszinierend. Ich bin auch sehr an den Geheimnissen um Lilys Mutter sowie um Zach, Rosaleen, Augusta, May, June und Neil interessiert. Die Geschichte der Bienen ist gut mit der Geschichte der Menschen verknüpft, und obwohl auch das Thema der Rassentrennung und des Rassenhasses angesprochen wird und immer wieder kehrt, ist es dennoch in einer Form, dass das Buch erhebend und voller Hoffnung wirkt.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

Markus Orths: Lehrerzimmer

Studienassessor Kranich tritt seine erste Stelle in der schwäbischen Provinz an und gerät in eine Bildungsanstalt, die Kafka und Orwell ersonnen haben könnten. Weil der Junglehrer beim Chef, Direktor Höllinger, sogleich einige Minuspunkte verbucht ("Alkoholexzesse, falscher Wohnort, Vornotenignoranz"), versucht er als dessen GSB ("Geheimer Sicherheitsbeamter") Boden gutzumachen und unbotmäßige oder bloß schlampige Kollegen, die ihren Schlüsselbund liegen lassen, ans Messer zu liefern. Gleichzeitig sympathisiert er mit der KG, den rebellischen Elementen unter den Kollegen, trifft sich mit ihnen im Hinterzimmer einer Stuttgarter Gaststätte und bekommt auf der Lehrer-Toilette gut gemeinte Warnungen zugeflüstert.

Eine lustige und kurzweilige Parodie auf das Lehrerdasein. Für mich war es leider etwas überholt, da ich als Lehrerin persönliche Erfahrungen gemacht habe, die selbst an diese Parodie nicht herankommen...

Friday, 27 November 2009

Celil Oker: Dunkle Geschäfte am Bosporus

Muazzes Güler, die toughe Chefin einer Computerfirma in Istanbul, kann es nicht leiden, wenn ihre Kunden nicht bezahlen. Um einem besonders hartnäckigen Schuldner Beine zu machen, setzt sie den Privatdetektiv Remzi Ünal auf ihn an. Der muss mitten in der Wirtschaftskrise jeden Auftrag annehmen. Als er jedoch sein Honorar abholen will, findet er Muazzes Güler tot in ihrem Büro vor, mit einem Mauskabel um den Hals.
Schnell stellt Remzi fest, dass in dieser Geschichte gar nichts zusammenpasst. Muazzes Gülers Geschäfte beschränkten sich keineswegs auf Computerteile, und ihr Politikergatte geht für seine Karriere über Leichen.


Das war für mich einmal ein etwas anderer Krimi. Obwohl ich den Detektiv Remzi Ünal mit seinen Komplexen und Selbstverteidigungskünsten ganz interessant gefunden habe, konnte ich mich nur sehr schwer in die Geschichte einfinden. Meiner Meinung nach wurde da zu viel verpackt (Liebesgeschichte, Politikerkarriere, Mafiosi-Machenschaften), als dass es noch möglich gewesen wäre dem Ganzen zu folgen. Aber Okars Zusammenfassung eines Krimis gefiel mir dann doch: "Ein Detektivroman ist eine Tragödie mit einem Happy End"....

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Susanna Tamaro: Der kugelrunde Roberto

Seine Eltern sind ständig unterwegs, geschäftig auf ihre Figur bedacht, ungeduldig. So bleibt Roberto als einziger Freund in der leeren Wohnung nur Kühli, der Kühlschrank. Doch seine Mutter hält nichts von Kummerspeck und steckt Roberto in ein Abmagerungsinstitut. Der Junge aber gibt sich nicht so schnell geschlagen. Er flieht in den Wald, begegnet einem Erfinder und vollbringt Heldentaten, gibt schließlich den Menschen das zurück was ihnen am meisten fehlt. Ein Buch für Kinder und Erwachsene, ein Trost für alle Dicken, ein humorvolles Plädoyer für das Recht, so zu sein, wie man ist.

An sich hätte mir die Geschichte des kleinen Roberto ganz gut gefallen, da das Märchen letztendlich zeigen will, dass man so sein soll, wie man ist. Allerdings wurde mir das Märchen etwas zu bunt und obskur, und daher würde ich es nicht für Kinder und Jugendliche empfehlen.

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Charlotte Armstrong: Verschwörung gegen Miss Pomeroy

Dieses Buch ist eine Sammlung von sechs Kriminalgeschichten über Fremde, die an Türen klopfen und hereingelassen werden, mit Kind und Kegel und Unheil im Gefolge.
Der Albatros: Die Geschichte eines Ehepaares, das aufgrund widriger Umstände Fremde beherbergt.
Die besondere Sprache der Frauen: Die Geschichte zweier fremder Frauen, die sich doch näher sind als zu erwarten wäre.
Verschwörung gegen Miss Pomeroy: Die Geschichte einer leidgeplagten Lehrerin und ihrer Schäfchen.
Rosa Glas: Die Geschichte eines rechtschaffenen Mannes, der eben auch manchmal zu unredlichen Mitteln greift.
Ein Weinen in der Nacht: Die Geschichte eines Ehepaares, das vom Land kommt und sich in der Stadt auch bei den Nachbarn einmischt.
Der Köder: Die Geschichte eines Radio-DJs, der sich scheinbar mehr um Fremde kümmert als um die eigene Freundin.

Alle Geschichten waren unterhaltsam und spannend, wobei mir "Der Albatros" am Besten gefiel. Die Geschichte um Johnny, den Radio DJ, fand ich zu sehr konstruiert und die philosophischen Abhandlungen der Charakteren bzgl. Liebe und was Liebe ist war ebenfalls weithergeholt. Unterhaltsame Lektüre für den Abend....