52 Books in 52 Weeks (2011) discussion

Book reviews for week 29.

Logan
★★★★
my review

I really really liked this book, which isn't totally my type in the first place. I thought it has a very nice story with very interesting characters. I also liked the subplots of the book. It has so many twists that kept me glued to it and waiting for revelation.

I'll definitely check in the other books of the Montana Creeds series because I wanna know more about the Creed boys.

★★★★

This is my first book by Cheever and I meant for it to be a novella; I tend to read shorts by acclaimed authors before delving into their other longer books to get a grasp and a feeling of the author's style. Cheever did not disappoint and I had fun reading this novella. I don't know how to classify it, whether drama or mystery. It is, definitely, a slice of life novella. At times, it reminded me of the melancholic "A Single Man" (film). I was going to give it 3 stars (my "good & enjoyed it" rating) but the last page, though short, was written beautifully and let my imagination soar high, that I went from "good & enjoyed it" to "very good & made me shut up and think".

Talk Me Down
★

In short, This book was the let down of the month. I didn't really enjoy it and because of that I skipped all the middle chapters. And guess what? I didn't miss a thing. There was no emotional attachment whatsoever toward this book and situations fell short to deliver any.

Ruso and the DeMented Doctor by Ruth Downie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Petreius Russo is an army doctor in the Roman army based in Britain in AD118. He heads North, to the homeland of his slave girl, where the natives are restless and the Romans are determined to stamp out any ideas of an uprising. Russo is asked to help solve the murder of a soldier, and prove that the man who confessed is not actually the killer he gets caught up in local politics. Tilla, his slave girl, is caught up in family reunions and seems to be about to betray Russo but some inconvenient facts show her that family is not always to be trusted.

I picked up this book hoping I had found someone who could pique my interest as much as Lindsey Davis does, in future I will stick to re-reading the Falco novels when I want to revel in a slice of Roman life. Russo and Tilla simply did not capture my imagination in the way Falco and Helena did even though in many ways they are very similar characters.



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Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Why change the title of a novel between the hardback publication and the paperback? If Mortal Remains was considered good enough for the hardback what was the reason for changing it to spider bones? Actually I think spider bones is a better title but I still find the change annoying.

Also why have an elaborate, unusual accidental death to start of the story if it in no way relates to anything else that happens in the book. A simple fatal accident while swimming or fishing would have set of the action as well as the convoluted story used.

After those two main moans I have to admit I devoured this book, I was reluctant to put it down and read it in less than two days. But it does feel very much like candy floss, lovely while indulging but nothing substantial at the end.




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I'm like 11 books behind... #fail



V.C. Andrews
2/5

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...







Mitch Albom

2.5/5
It started off good but..
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...






عصام بن صالح العويد

3/5

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75...

قصة الفلسفة : من أفلاطون إلى جون ديوي
by Will Durant

4/5

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71...

ثلاثية غرناطة
4\5


هذه الثلاثية تشعرك بالخسارة، وتعيدك إلى أيام سقوط الأندلس والأجيال التي عاشت ذاك السقوط، تفتح نافذه على أرواحهم، وتذيقك شيئًا من وجعهم. تعيش معهم الألم والأمل والترقب..
رواية حين تبدؤها ستجد نفسك تقلب الصفحات للوصول الى النهاية، والفجوات التي بين أجزاء الثلاثية تترك المسافة للخيال ليملأ الفراغات..
لسبب ما أحسست بشيء من روح "مائة عام من العزلة" فيها

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam & Modernity in the Middle East


2\5

When a book title is a question, you expect that it'll answer that question, but this book didnt.. It provided a glimpse of the last days of the Ottoman Empire and accounts of "westren's" visits there.

One of the issues the book spoke of is the issue of those who "didnt benefit from the general Muslim principle of legal and religious quality - Unbelievers, slaves and women." which wasn't accurate or well searched in my opinion, especially on the issue of slaves.

less than what I expected from a "Best Selling" book..

Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


this was a cute and funny book, full of fun but it was very fun to read, and i really liked gemmas personality, and i loved her big brother i think jack, any way good book.



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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney

5/5

I love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It's such a fun, light read.

Zombicorns by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




Loved this little novella. I finished it in one sitting.
It has a bit of everything (zombies, philosophy, humor, geeky references), and, best of all, it's free.



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Book 39 Complete Poems - Elizabeth Bishop


I must say that I have a love hate relationship with poetry, I like some poetry but I hate a lot of it ! For me it is the snobbery that surrounds the world of poetry that I don't like. Personally I love to be able to read a poem without having to have a degree in the history and workings of poetry, if a poem doesn't make sense then I don't like it. And I don't want to know about iambics or any of that stuff to be able to appreciate a piece of writing. I have written poetry in the past and maybe I will again in the future but I'm not interested in writing anything that you need a diploma or a degree in poetry or English Lit to understand. I like to write poetry and to read poetry that makes me feel something, whether it is joy or sadness or surprise or shock. I love Billy Collins and even Sylvia Plath, even though Sylvia's poetry isn't the easiest to understand, I just love her imagination.

To be honest the Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop didn't rock my world, in fact it was a bit of a nightmare to read. Of the many MANY poems in the book I could probably count on two hands ( maybe one) the ones that I liked. I much prefer her later poems than her earlier ones. The final part of the book featured Elizabeth's translations of poetry by other poets and to be honest these were probably more fun to read !

The highlights of Elizabeth's poems for me were poems such as ; Manners, Filling Station, Visit's to Elizabeths, In the Waiting Room ( probably my favourite), Crusoe in England. And translations of note are 'The Death and Life of Severino' by Joao Cabral de Melo Neto, 'The Table' by Carlos Drummond de Andrade and 'January First' by Octavio Paz.

Even though this wasn't my favourite read of the year I do think any writer could do worse than to read poetry, I think a writer can learn a lot from poetry in general. Where better a place to learn about imagery and metaphor and imagination ?

I would like to read more poetry.

2/5 stars

This book could definitely have been a lot creepier and more fast paced. I thought it dragged and that the author didn't really know how to explain the plot so it was really all over the place. Love the cover though!

المشروع الحضاري نحو فهم جديد للواقع
عبدالكريم بكار
4/5

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98...

كتاب آخر جميل من كتب المفكر "د.عبدالكريم بكار" ..
كتاب آخر يذكر لنا بعض المشاكل التي نتعرض لها لبناء مشروع حضاري للأمة
وكما عودنا د.بكار فهو لايكتفي بعرض المشكلات فقط بل يحرص بشدة لعرض الخلل ورائها ويلحقها بحلول عملية للتخل منها او للتقليل من آثارها..
من المواضيع التي تستحق التأمل في هذا الكتاب "عاطفيون، القصور العقلي ، إدارة التناقض، الكرامة الجريحة، الوطنية"

بعض اقتباساته الجميلة
"لن يتحقق السلام في مجتمعاتنا ولا الامن ولا الاستقرار ولا الشعور بالانتماء للوطن مالم يسد العدل وتكافؤ الفرص ونفاذ القوانين على الناس دون استثناء ودون اعتبار خصوصية لأي كان"

"إن المشروع الحضاري روح يسري في كيان الأمة ويجتاج كيان كل فرد من أفرادها إنه رموز تستوطن اللاشعور والطبقات العميقة في اللاوعي"

"اعمل ماهو ممكن الآن ، ولاتنتظر تحسن الظروف"

"من خلال الأعمال الغيرة والمبادرات الفردية يتشكل مستقبل أمة إذا ماامتلكنا ما يكفي من العزيمة والوعي"

Life, the Universe and Everything
Douglas Adams
2/5

Maybe I was expecting too much of this series. Maybe it's because I didn't read the book all at once. Either way, I was hoping for much more than I got.

Don't get me wrong, the book still has moments of classic HHGG hilarity. I just found that the plot was unfolding too slowly and that it didn't really grab my interest the way the earlier two books did.

I may revisit this entry and the rest of the series later in the future, but it'll likely be with adjusted expectations.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another great Jasper Fforde book. Parts of it was sluggish, especially compared to the paces of the Thursday Next novels and the Nursery Crime series, but I thought it was an interesting enough read. I wish we'd had more time with the Kazam sorcerers, though. The ending was slightly anticlimatic and a bit confusing and quickly wrapped up.

I liked the heroine. I loved her assistant, Tiger Prawns. Actually, the four stars are for the characters, I adore them all. But, my favorite character, hands down, was the Quarkbeast. I LOVED HIM.

Can't wait to pick up the next book in the series!



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النبي
by Khalil Gibran
Rating: 4/5


اول كتاب اقرأه لجبران. كتاب رائع مع ان بساطته ازعجتني.
ترجمة 'ثروت عكاشة' ساحرة تكاد تطغى على النص الاصلي.

هذه النسخة عبارة عن قسمين:
القسم الأول (١٠٩ صفحة) يتحدث فيه المترجمة عن حياة جبران الرسام والأديب.
اما القسم الثاني فهو النص باللغتين العربية والانجليزية.