Six Sentence Sunday

As frequently happens when I haven't blogged for awhile, I get a little overwhelmed with what needs to be reviewed.

I'm not sure where 6 Sentence Sunday comes from but I've seen it around. Basically it means you review your book in 6 sentences or less. I have four to catch up on, so lets get started!

Russian Winter - Daphne Kalotay

In the hope of closing the curtain on painful memories, Nina Revskya, a Russian ballet dancer who defected to America, is selling her extensive jewelery collection and donating the proceeds to the Boston ballet. Griogori Solodin is a professor in Russian who believes he has a link to the famous ballerina. Kalotay writes a beautiful story of a woman living in very dangerous times and a man desperate to know the truth. Jumping back and forth from present day Boston and Stalinist Russia, the story exposes piece by piece the mystery behind Revskya and Solodin's past. Russian Winter is a beautifully written history lesson, love story and mystery all rolled into one - highly recommended.

The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver

 This was our first Book Group selection for the year but due to my 10 year old breaking his leg I was unable to get to the meeting. The Lacuna traces the life of Harrison William Shephard, a half Mexican, half American raised in Mexico but moving back to America as an adult. I don't find Kingsolver easy to read and this was no exception. I spent much of the novel waiting for something to happen, and with our main character encountering real life people such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and  Trotsky, you expected something to happen! In the end the prose kept me going, it is beautifully written. Just don't pick it up expecting a great page turner.

Challenges: Ebook Challenge

Paper Towns - John Green

 I'd heard the John Green around the blogosphere a lot but had never picked up one of his books until Paper Towns - and wow - I now get the hype. Recently I have come to the realisation that a lot of YA fiction no longer does it for me - most probably because I am way past being a YA myself. But every now and then you discover something that works and for me this was it. I loved the characters, the story line, the adventure, the puzzle, everything. I'll be looking for more of Mr Green's work!

Halt's Peril - John Flanagan

Oh but it was good to be back with Halt, Will and Horace as they search for Tennyson and his band of followers. One of the things I love about this series is the characters actually change and grow as the books progress. This is the ninth book in the series and Horace and Will have obviously become very competent young men, well past their apprenticeships. Flanagan continues to produce quality writing that is a wonderful introduction into the fantasy genre for younger readers.

Challenges: Aussie Author Challenge

So there I am caught up, thanks to Six Sentence Sunday!

The Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

From Goodreads:

The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement: "We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle," says Leah, one of Nathan's daughters. But of course it isn't long before they discover that the tremendous humidity has rendered the mixes unusable, their clothes are unsuitable, and they've arrived in the middle of political upheaval as the Congolese seek to wrest independence from Belgium. In addition to poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, and the hostility of the villagers to Nathan's fiery take-no-prisoners brand of Christianity, there are also rebels in the jungle and the threat of war in the air. Could things get any worse?

 I read Poisonwood Bible for our book group. I must say I found it challenging to start with. Many in our group struggled with the changing narrator, which I surprisingly didn't. I think my problem was more with the fact it was our third book in a row that dealt with colonisation type issues. (The first two being Every Secret Thing and Mr Pip) I started to enjoy it more towards the end and was glad I persevered.

Kingsolver gave each of her narrators (5 in all) a clear voice. It was easy to identify each of them simply by the style of speech. This also made it easy to like or dislike certain characters and their views or treatment of situations. I also liked how each character was followed through to the end, you knew what had happened to each of them and it wasn't always what you thought it would be.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I would recommend it, but would warn you need to read it, you can't skim! It took me over two weeks to read which is unusual, but it was worth the effort.