Monday, June 29, 2009

City of Thieves

City of Thieves is a historical fiction novel set during the German siege of Leningrad. In a nutshell, City of Thieves is a coming of age tale surrounding a seventeen year old boy named Lev and a 20-something soldier called Kolya.

After being arrested for looting, Lev was placed in a cell and met Kolya who is arrested for desertion. An NKVD Colonel gave them a task to look for a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake and with that offer an opportunity to save their lives and escape the death sentence for the crime they had each committed. Their task brings them to a journey of survival against the odds.

I was really looking forward to reading this book seeing that it received great reviews from some of the other book blogs that I’ve visited. Sad to say I do not share their views and thought that the book was just an okay read. I found the facts presented surrounding the siege interesting and I learned a lot about Russia and the effects of World War II on Leningrad.
However, the characters and the plot failed to engage my interest. The story of how two characters who are total opposites of each other finding friendship through the challenges they faced sounded intriguing but somehow in the end I found the storyline to be a bit unrealistic. Personally, its not one of the best books I've read this year.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

What's on Your Nightstand- June

What’s on Your Nightstand is a monthly event hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.
I’m a bit disappointed with my reading achievements for this month. I’ve been busy and only managed to read two books: City of Thieves and Coraline. I’m hoping this month I’ll have more time to read and blog about the following books:
  1. Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
  2. A Game of Thrones, George R.R Martin
  3. Women, Wisdom & Dreams, Ann Scott
  4. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

Monday, June 22, 2009

Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

I’ve been meaning to read Sookie Stackhouse for the longest time and boy was I glad when I found out that Beth Fish Reads is hosting a Sookie Stackhouse challenge! So... YES BETH! COUNT ME IN!
Here are some of the rules and information on the challenge:
  1. The challenge runs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. You can read it in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook, it’s up to you—format is not an issue.
  2. If you are interested to take part in the challenge, visit Beth Fish Read’s blog to sign up.
  3. If you don’t have a blog, don’t fret! You can still leave comments on Beth’s blog to update us on your status.
  4. If you’re on Twitter, you can also join in on the conversation using the hashtag#SookieSRC (for Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge).
Here’s the list of Sookie Stackhouse books that you can pick up and read for the challenge:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
I’m so psyched and can’t wait to get started! Thanks Beth for hosting the challenge!

Psssttttt- there’s a little contest going on where you can win all seven books... but I’m not gonna tell you when and where and how cause I want to win it for myself too! LOL!
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Edit:
Darn! I only read the T&C on the Sookie Stackhouse giveaway and looks like I have to blog about it to stand a chance to win! So much for keeping it a secret! LOL - Check out Melissa’s Bookshelf for an opportunity to win the first seven Sookie Stackhouse books in paperback. Contest ends Sunday, July 5th 2009 at 8pm Eastern time.


Monday, June 8, 2009

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time

Three Cups of Tea is truly a remarkable book about one man’s vision to provide education to the poorest regions in Pakistan. On his way back from a failed attempt to ascend K2, George Mortenson losses his way and stumbles upon a rural village in the Karakoram Mountains where he befriends the simple and kind villagers who want nothing more than the opportunity to educate the young. Moved by the villager’s kindness, Mortenson promises to return and build them a school.

What starts as a simple promise to one village, develops into a dedicated journey full of trials and tribulation in trying to provide education to the most poverty stricken villages in Pakistan.
I applaud Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin’s style of writing in this book. The book provides detailed description of Mortenson’s journey, his experiences and the relationships developed with the people who share his vision.

I ended this book with great respect for Mortenson and share his belief that education would be the best way of promoting peace. Three Cups of Tea also carried another strong message: Not all Muslim’s are Terrorist and not all American’s hate Muslims. Truly an excellent book and definitely a recommended read.

If you would like to purchase this book, I recommend that you make purchases through the official Three Cups of Tea website. 7% of your purchases will go towards an education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Note: This book counts as the third book read for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge.
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