Book Blogger Hop

Just discovered this and it looks like fun!  Thanks Bobbie who I already follow, for posting about this and leading me there  I shall certainly be joining in,


Below is what Crazy-For -Books has to say!

This is a weekly event where book bloggers and readers can connect to find new blogs to read . Its a great way to network with other bloggers and make new friends! Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following . In the spirit of the Friday Follow I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blogger Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!
Want to be a part of this Blog Hop?

Yes then take a look HERE

The Cupid Effect by Dorothy Koomson

  

When I discover for me a new author as I did when I read My Best Friends's Girl in 2006, I often add their back catalogue of novels to my wish-list. This is what I did with Dorothy Koomson as I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of hers that I read. As you can see from my review http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4323986

So this is only the second title by her that I have read and I am sorry to say that my opinion of it is in complete contrast to the last one. I plodded through this getting no pleasure at all from reading it, I like to loose myself in a book and with this I was just unable to do so.

I had no interest at all in the so called modern day cupid character of Ceri D'Altroy, who returns to Leeds the town of her student days, to take up a post as a Psychology lecturer. Having vowed to leave her match- making days behind her in London. This does not prove to be the case, as everyone she comes into contact with seems to be inspired to change their lives due to comments she seemingly innocently makes!

Sorry but this storyline just did not draw me in, due to me not any fault of the book, which I am sure others may well enjoy.

As this was Dorothy Koomson's first novel originally published in 2003 and as I enjoyed the later one I read, I will leave her other novels on my to be read mountain!

 

Dorothy Koomson's Website

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

 

A moving memoir about the authoress Azar and seven female students of hers. Azar was a professor at Tehran university, until resigning due to the dictatorial policies that involved banning great works of Western literature from being studied.  She decided to continue to hold a private class with invited participants.

For two years Mashid, Nassrin, Manna, Azin, Sanez, Mitra and Yassi met in secret at Azar's home to discuss the novels of Valdimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen amongst others.

These weekly meetings which at first started out with shy and somewhat intimidated young women gradually changed into more relaxed gatherings as they became friends. It is through getting to know the young women within  the pages of this memoir that you will learn of the realities of living in Iran under the strict Islamic rules of the period.

The women found that they could often empathise with the heroines from the novels they were studying. Comparing the difficulties they had in their lives with those of their own in present day Iran.

I liked the way this memoir used literary criticism to explain the injustices these women amongst others were suffering, but the style might not appeal to everyone.

Azar Nafisi's Website

Biographical Details of Azar Nafisi

This video from YouTube is a good introduction to the book.

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

I did enjoy this but did not find it as captivating as I had expected to, both from reviews read and from the fact that it won the UK Romantic Novel of 2009 award. It was an enjoyable read though maybe my opinion was clouded because a favourite author of mine did not win the award.
In 1928, three young women leave the United Kingdom  to start what they hope will be new lives in India.  The first protagonist we meet is Viva Holloway who wishes to return to India having spent some of her childhood there. She has very confused memories of the past  and hopes that sorting these out will give her peace of mind and freedom from her demons. She is twenty eight and finds herself working her passage to India as chaperone to the other three protagonists of the story, all at least ten years or so her junior.
Rose, niave and anxious about her future is travelling to India to marry her fiancé Captain Jack Chandler in Bombay, a man she barely knows. She is accompanied by her best friend Victoria ‘Tor’ Sowerby who was to be her bridesmaid. While Rose is moving to India for love, Tor hopes to find love whilst there. So that she does not have to return home to England and her over powering mother.
Full of hope and excitement these young women are far from prepared for all that lies ahead of them in India. All looking for that fairy tale ending the girls all become close friends as they mature into stronger individuals.
The young man Guy who is the third young person whom Viva chaperones on the journey, turns out to be a most unpleasant and confused young man due to mental health issues, that were not properly understood. He actually turns out to aggravate a lot of the problems they later have in India.
For me the novel was more a historical novel of suspense than strongly romantic, the story is rather dramatic at times as it is set in the period of violence caused by the coming of the end of British rule in India. Viv, Rose, Tor and Guy are all trying to cope with their own personal problems and battles for independence, amidst the background of a country fighting for the very same thing.

In all this was a vividly descriptive and enjoyable read.
Julia Gregson
'East of the Sun' has been published in Italy as ' Matrimonio a Bombay'/ 'Marriage in Bombay'.  Although in Italian this video depicts a delighful picture of the story.