in love with books

Today I'll be reviewing another book I have mixed feelings about. It is primarily the question of whether I'm reading too much into this book. Is it really a social satire or is it something I want it to be? Does it has a deeper message or am I reading too much into it? I just can't tell or sure. Perhaps I need to read more from this author to be able to tell. This was my first novel by Anders de la Motte. I bought the book in Croatian translation ages ago, but it took me this long to pick it up? Why? Because the writing didn't look exactly inviting. I'll explain what I mean in this review. 

When it comes to book as such, I have to say that I'm not that impressed.  In my introduction, I mentioned that I'm not sure whether this book really is social satire or not. I wanted it to be, because the subject of Buzz's social satire is quite important. Buzz is a novel that questions the  consequences of our 'digital lives'. As I explained, there is only…

Today I'll be reviewing a book I have mixed feelings about but in a way that makes reviewing even more fun. At times, it is good to feel torn about something, to keep beating one's head over some questions. I like to believe that the purpose of books is, among other things, to make us think. In that sense, Dandy is a successful novel, for it sure made me think! Whenever I found a book I like, but there are some some things I dislike about it,  I start to question my criticism. Is it valid or not? Nevertheless, the point of book reviews is to present our opinion of the book and that's what I'll do today. So, what kind of a novel is Dandy? It is a family saga of sorts, a historical novel that is also a second book in the series.




Published in 2012, Dandy is a novel that starts with the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, an event that marked an end of an era. Dandy was my first novel by Jan Guillou. I previously haven't even heard of this French- Swedish author, so I didn'…

Don't judge a book by its cover they say. Never have I found it more true than in the case of this book. The cover is beautiful, the novel is anything b. Death at La Fenice was my first novel by Donna Leon and I have a feeling it's going to be my last. Why you might wonder? Well, for start I didn't like the novel as such. Moreover, it annoyed me because I found it offensive and xenophobic. How come a book like this not only got published but became popular? I'm bewildered....

...and there is a little voice saying to me: If you didn't know, you don't have to know how to write to publish a book. All you need to do is good marketing. All you need  to do is to pick a popular location, let's say Venice, populate it with one dimensional characters, every imaginable stereotype about Italy and the world, sentences that couldn't be called writing even if one was trying to be exceptionally kind- and there you go. Don't forget to randomly insert a bunch of Ital…

Published in 2002, The Good Women of China is a book by British- Chinese journalist Xue Xinran. Composed mostly from interview she conducted and letters she received whole working as a journalist/radio host, this book reads like a collection of short stories. Most of the stories are quite sad and tragic, as is the tone of the book. The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices speaks about difficult subjects (raging from political repression to abuse) and events (ranging from a devastatingearthquake to the horrors of  Cultural Revolution). It is not an easy book to read, and it was probably not an easy book to write. At the start of the book, Xinran tell a story of an event that nearly costs her the manuscript for this book. A man tried to steal her bag, and she fought him desperately despite the fact he was six feet tall and stronger than her. At that point Xinran was already living in London, I believe. A policeman asked her why she had risked her own life for the sake of the bag, and Xira…

Funny how when you talk about something you like, in my case books, words just seem to flow.It’s official. I seem to unable to write a book review that would be shorter than a thousand words, even when it comes to books I’m not that excited about. Now, this novel is definitely a book I wasn’t very excited to read.John Grisham is one of those authors I like, but will probably never be crazy about. What I expect was a solid novel that would keep me entertained and that’s what I got.My uncle gave me this book saying that it’s nothing special, but still an interesting read. I would tend to agree with him. In fact, that’s exactly how I would describe this book. But let’s get a more detailed than that, shall we?
The Brethren is, like most of Grisham's books, a legal thriller. The central characters are multiple, and so are the plot lines but the narrative is easy to follow and understand. The book is quite readable. It might be called a page turner, as the narrative is pretty eventful, t…