Trials And Tribulations: July 2008

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Marisa de los Santos - Belong To Me

I loved this book. It is proof that a book about love can be well written without turning into a Danielle Steele escapade. It is a great story about love between a woman and a man, the love for children and the love women have for their friends. It is also very funny and it actually made me cry. I could name the books that have done that to me on about three fingers. It is powerful and a real page turner. Buy it.

Plus I love the cover.

Nadeem Aslam - Maps For Lost Lovers

I loved this book-it is beautifully written, challenges you and opens your eyes at the same time. The story is set in England and revolves around a Pakistani community, more specifically a devout Muslim woman who is married to non-practicing Muslim man. The man's brother and his girlfriend are murdered which sets the events rolling that the story evolves from. This is not a murder mystery (I hate those)-instead it is a tale of all the different kinds of loves there are in our lives. My favourite parts of this novel were the sections that challenged the way I think, especially the inherent racism that lies in everyone.

You have to enjoy a book that uses lines like this to discipline children, "If you don't be careful, I will give you to a white person and you will be fed pork for the rest of your life".

This book is hilarious and heartbreaking.

I was also completely fooled by the author. I assumed it was a woman all the way to the end, then I flipped to the last page and it was a young guy. It took me about 10 minutes to get over that.

Also, if you are an English teacher, this is a great resource to use on how to write similes beyond, "Her hair was as black as the night". At first I thought the similes were overused then I just decided to enjoy them because they are incredibly well done.

Plus there is the added bonus of learning some very interesting things about moths.

Helen Dunmore - The Siege

This novel takes place during WWII and is set in St. Petersburg during the winter the Germans basically surrounded the city and cut off all food supplies in attempt to starve the 3 million citizens to death. It is based on fact but the story is fiction. The main characters are a widowed man reunited with the woman he had an affair with while he was married and his daughter and her lover. The story is so gripping that you can feel the coldness and starvation in your own bones. It is hard to believe that Helen Dunmore was not a survivor of this terrible time-she does an excellent job of telling a story that should not be forgotten. If you like Holocaust book, historical fiction or coming of age novels, I think you would enjoy this.

Every day Nathaniel must go do a safety inspection on the kennels. He climbs in and out of them numerous times to make sure the floor is safe, opens and shuts the doors roughly 8 million times to make sure they do not squeak and stands and shakes the sides as hard as he can to make sure the screws are still holding tight.

The Patience Of A Dog

Hear my silent cry for help! Is there no reprive from this maniac child? Is even my kennel not sacred?

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Summer Vacation

We headed out of Fredericton last week for a week and a half of vacation. Our first stop was Montreal for the night then onto Toronto for a few nights with Lee, Erinn and Henry. We ate lots of good food and did some shopping, then headed down to Stratford for the next 6 days to see Iain's family. We also popped up to Kitchener to see Helen and Joe's beautiful new house. We headed back to the Maritimes with a stopover in Quebec City. We were all tired when we rolled into the driveway but we enjoyed ourselves.

Thanks for the hospitality everyone!