Monday, September 29, 2008

Sunday Salon & Raffle September 28, 2008

Banned Book Week Raffle


This is a raffle to celebrate our freedom to read!!! Please leave a comment on my blog to be entered in the raffle to win a copy of Gap Creek,by Robert Morgan. The drawing for Gap Creek will be on October 6th. Good Luck. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this book, it was an Oprah Book Club pick, winner of the Southern Book Critic Circle Award, and a NYT Notable Book. Besides that...I highly recommend it!
If you link to my blog and write about the raffle on your blog you will get two (2) additional chances.

Reading This Week



Finished reading The Fire, by Katherine Neville. I am a huge fan of her novel The Eight, written twenty years ago. I would recommend the Eight to anyone who loves drama, excitement and intrigue. In my opinion, The Davinci Code, often compared to The Eight, pales in comparison hands down. The Fire on the other hand was very disappointing to me after such a long wait for another book from this talented writer. It was difficult to stay focused and I lost interest easily. Unlike The Eight, I struggled to finish the book. If you want to experience Katherine Neville's finest work, read The Eight.

Finished reading Murderers in Mausoleums, Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing by Jeffrey Tayler (Review to follow during the week)




Surprise Read of the Month...Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

Miles from Nowhere, by Nami Mun
I received Miles from Nowhere, by Nami Mun about a week ago, and decided to glance over the first few pages on Saturday. When I receive an ARC I thumb through the book, read a little and try to obtain an overview before I sit down and read it.
It soon became apparent that I wasn’t going to put this book down, and it quickly landed on top of my TBR pile. I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy day. As I began to read Miles to Nowhere, I came to know Joon, a thirteen year old run-a-way, living on the streets. The story takes place in the 1980’s in New York City.
As the story begins, Joon a Korean girl lives with her parents. Their marriage is a rocky relationship always on the brink of failure. One day her father finally has enough and decides to leave home. This sends her mentally ill mother, unable to cope with his desertion, on a tragic trajectory of wacky behavior. When Joon takes to the streets she fights for survival wearing the scars of pain. Her battles become narcotic addiction, failed friendships, and lost loves. She tries to climb out by working in a variety of jobs from dance girl hostess to an avon door to door salesgirl. The story is written episodically with Joon as the narrator. We learn about all the friends, parents and the people Joon meets through her point of view. You can’t help but love Joon and want to protect and embrace her and tell her it’s just a bad dream. Time passes in Joon’s mind, sometimes rational, sometimes fragmented. You feel her confusion, her sense of loss and despair all through her cognition. Mun makes it look easy the way she has managed to create the passage of time over five years as Joon ages to eighteen. This book does not come out until December 26th, but you will want to get a copy as soon as you can. This is a warm, sensitive, reflective story, sometimes amusing, sometimes dispiriting but carrying a message of hope. You will close the cover and say ahhhhhhh.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! I love the new look!! :) Super cool. :) I also like the BubbleShare over on the sidebar as well.

Lesa said...

I like the appearance of your blog as well. Very attractive, and eye-catching. Sigh. I can't figure out a lot of things to do with my blog. I like yours very much.

Marie Cloutier said...

The blog looks great! :-) I have the Nami Mun book as well; it looks to be very good :-)

wisteria said...

Thanks Marie...The Mun book is fabulous..I would say one of my favorite books this year. Her writing is so poetic. You will love it. Let me know what you think after you have read it. :-)

wisteria said...

Thanks J.Kaye and Lesa also for your kind words. I actually had to redesign my site because I lost my original. It was time anyway for a new look. Glad you like it :-)

Iliana said...

The Eight is one of those books I've been meaning to read in like forever and just haven't gotten to. You know how that goes.

I really like the sound of "Miles from Nowhere" -- I'm putting that one on my radar.

Oh and thanks but no need to add me to the raffle - I am sure I've got that book in my stacks! Happy Banned Book week :)

Anonymous said...

Just bought the Eight. I am all souped up by your review. I frankly bought the Da Vinci Code a couple of times, i.e. losing things on trains etc. and each time was not able to finish. I will see how astute your review is....

Good on you for the greyhounds!