BOOK: 26a by Diana Evans

26a by Diana Evans

Orange January (New Author Prize 2005); What's in a Name 4: number in title

26A is the number outside the attic room in a London suburb where Bessie and Georgia, twins, share a room. They retire there to make decisions (should their parents divorce? how will they make their flap-jack empire? ) and share their twinness. Other interesting characters in this well-written book include younger sister Kemy, obsessed with Michael Jackson, older sister Bel who inherited her mother's Nigerian understanding of the mystical, their English father who battles Mr Hyde with his drinking, and Ida, their Nigerian mother who ran away from her village and ended up in England but still talks to her mother everyday, spirit wise.

They say the youngest child is the strongest child, because she had to make you love her, when you were tired, when you had loved the other first. p 200

This book begins with the marriage of Charles and Diana and ends soon after Diana's death. I thought this was a very good way of anchoring the time, and the feelings in England as the story takes place. Evans also does a very good job of immersing the reader in the world of the twins, who start off as young girls, and end up as young women. Their twinness, along with the Nigerian folklore, introduces a mystical, magical element that gradually becomes the norm in the book. I'm not usually a fan of non-realistic events, but Evans brought me gradually into the girls world, and by the last third, I loved it. The tone of the story changed by that point, but I thought it was really well done as we see the world through Georgia's eyes, and she is going through a very bad time.

Evans won the New Authors Prize in 2005 from the Orange Prize, and she takes risks with her writing, dealing with depression and delving into the mystical, but I think she pulled it off. It's a book I might not like some days, but this day I did. Evans' ability to put the reader in her characters' minds, very different characters and cover an expanse of time was well done.

BOOK: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, 407 pages

Orange January (longlist 2005)

Actually the first of the Jackson Brodie mysteries (One Good Turn, When Will There Be Good News?) but the third I've read. All have been easy to read, great mysteries, lots of characters who don't appear related, but Atkinson ties them up nicely in the end. Case Histories provides the background to Jackson Brodie that I was missing from the other books, but I don't remember feeling confused without this information - Brodie is just more layered.

Three old mysteries are first explained, (like a Cold Case episode; I loved that show) and then they are introduced as clients of Jackson Brodie. Brodie does some investigating and gets more caught up in his clients' lives than he would want. Except he does, because he's a very caring guy. Just a really well done mystery with good characters, good plots, and easy reading style.

BOOK: Unless by Carol Shields

Unless by Carol Shields, 322 pages

Orange January (shortlist 2003); Canada Reads 2011; 4th Canadian CBC

Linda Holmes, of NPR, wrote a great article in the summer, in the middle of a Franzen fracas, about why chick lit is a bad title. If you recall, Johnathan Franzen's summer release, Freedom, was the darling of all the literati. (Admission: haven't read it, have no plans to read it, even though my Google Reader is full up of fans of his books.) Maureen Johnson also wrote a much linked article about the dearth of attention to woman writers, among other things. I so wish Carol Shields had been around to add her two cents worth, since I believe she had much to say about male/female writers and their books. In fact, she wrote about it in her last published book, Unless. In 2002.

Reta Winters is a forty something writer, with every reason to be happy. Except, her nineteen year old daughter has suddenly dropped out of life, and is on a quest for goodness by begging on a street corner. Reta is given lots of comparisons about why this isn't so bad, but for her, it's everything. Shields starts the book off slowly, and I certainly felt the higher level of reading than I often read, but I felt stretched, in a very good way. With an author as the main character, there is lots of navel-gazing, and Reta even references herself as navel-gazing within the book, mocking herself for being an author and writing about writing. Part of the way Reta deals with her sadness and concern over her daughter, who she believes felt marginalized in a male dominated world, is to write letters pointing out the lack of female writers referenced in articles she's read.

Unless is a big story of identification told in one woman's experience. Hey, isn't that what male writer's do? But when women do it, it's called chick lit or a story for women. When men do, they are describing the life experience and get awards. The best, or rather most infuriating part of the book, is when Reta's editor decides her sequel book should be a big 'literature' book. She'll just have to switch the focus from the female character's search for goodness  to the male character's search for greatness. Yes, Carol Shields goes there. Rock on sister.

Perfect book to start off Orange January a little early. Bonus points for me since Unless is nominated for Canada Reads 2011. I can't wait to hear this book debated in February.

CHALLENGE: Orange January

It's time to start thinking about an Orange January! Will it be books from 2010's list, or into the older titles? Check out the Orange Prize Project blog for more ideas and the Facebook group for ideas and possibly prizes!  Every January and July, fans of the Orange Prize read all they can in celebration. The actual requirement is only to read one book.

Orange January Ideas:

Books in my house:
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (2006 short list)
Small Island by Andrea Levy (2004 winner)
26a by Diana Evans (2005 New Author winner)
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (2005 longlist)
The Colour by Rose Tremain (2004 longlist)

Books from the library:
This is How, by M.J. Hyland 2010 longlist
Secret Son, by Laila Lalami 2010 longlist
The Long Song, by Andrea Levy 2010 longlist
The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney 2007 longlist
Unless, by Carol Shields 2003 shortlist

And the books I read, with reviews linked:

1. Unless, by Carol Shields
2. Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
3. 26A - Diana Evans
4.

BOOK: Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

It's still July, and time for anther Orange book. I've had this one for a while, and was saving it to read in July. I love when a book I've been looking forward to lives up to expectations, and yet makes you wonder why you waited so long to read it.

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, 370 pages

Orange July (shortlist 2009); review copy from RandomHouse

 Just this easily, everything worthwhile in a life can be erased.

What an ambitious book! Beginning in Nagasaki in 1945 and spanning decades and countries, ending up in post 9/11 New York City, Burnt Shadows examines war and displacement through its effect on two families.

There are several distinct time frames and locations, and I thought some parts worked better than others. Japan and Delhi, the first two sections were my favorites. Shamsie's writing and the characters she created were so vivid and real. I liked how she used the 'enemies' from World War 2, Germany and Japan, for the two female lead characters, and then some 'smaller' events, like the Nagasaki bomb (not the Hiroshima) and Indian partition in 1947 (it was a good thing for the English to leave, right?) to showcase the large effects on everyday people in war. What makes a person feel a part of a country? Is the English boy born and raised in India not allowed to love the only place he's been born?

(Snarkily, I wondered how we missed travelling to Vietnam in the 1960s for a visit to that war. It seemed to be one of the major war events between 1947 and 1982, and we could have seen the characters for a little stop over in the missing 30 years. Wasn't the CIA involved there too?)

Moving the action to Pakistan in the early 1980s provides western readers with a look at what was going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan during the Soviet invasion,  how the Americans got involved, and how young men could have been caught in training camps. The last two sections, particularly the post 9/11 became a little too much about espionage/CIA and less about the characters I wanted to read more about. Much of the action and characters had moved to New York City and the story changed. Shamsie seemed to be trying to connect too many threads and wars into one neat finale. She kept the same themes and symbols from the first sections, the families that were so entwined, but by making the story so big, she lost a bit of the character development. Plus, her main characters were so old by 2001 and their children and grandchildren took over the action, and I wasn't as interested in them.

I still really enjoyed this book, even with the changing last section. After a run of mysteries and Newbery winners, I felt like a grown-up reader devouring a very good book, with adult themes and a plot that had me thinking of people and countries around the world. Thanks Orange July and RandomHouse, for an intelligent, engaging read.

BOOK: The Girls - Lori Lansens

It's Orange July, time to read a book or two that have been nominated for the Orange Prize. I've chosen a Canadian nominee from 2007, Lori Lansens and her wonderful book, The Girls. For more info on the Orange Prize Project, check out the blog or the Facebook page.

The Girls - Lori Lansens, 457 pages

Orange July: longlist 2007; Countdown Challenge: 2005; 4th Canadian Book Challenge

Ruby and Rose are 29 year old conjoined twins. Rose is writing her autobiography, and Ruby writes a few chapters to be fit in between Rose's. The two sisters have extremely distinctive voices, as Rose is a writer, trying to tell her story, putting thought into what she is telling, while Ruby writes much more straightforward, more like a child's diary. The two views of similar events are a wonderful technique to show the girls different personalities and take on life.

The story is not huge, just the story of their remarkable, yet unremarkable life. Living in a small town in southern Ontario, they have a small circle of family and acquaintances, even while being well known. The writing was wonderful, and I couldn't put it down. I like a book that has some foreshadowing of events so I am not too startled and the two sisters tell their story very differently, and in different order. Nicely done.

I've already passed this book along to my sister, and I am now looking forward to Lori Lansens other book, The Wife's Tale.

also reviewed: Apprentice Writer , suzi at whimpulsive , lynn at lynn's little corner, terri at reading, writing, and retirement,

BOOK: The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton, 317 pages

Early Reviewer Book from LibraryThing; Orange Longlist 2010

The plot summary sounded great - after a sex scandal at a private school, the nearby acting school decides to put on a play about the incident. The execution was thoroughly disorienting. Until I read in another review that the girls in the high school were in chapters labeled with days of the week, and the acting students were in chapters labeled with months, I was very confused. That helped a bit. I believe that some of the vignettes (the plot is nonlinear and the view is always changing) were the actual play, but I'm still not completely sure.

I continued reading because it was an Early Reviewer book, and somewhere in the middle, the story became a bit more clear for me. When the story stayed with the acting students I liked it much better. Over all, I don't like reading a story that makes me feel stupid because I can't figure out who anyone is or what is happening. Usually by the end I can have a good picture of the book, but this one left me baffled. Other readers who can deal with such a nonstandard novel may enjoy it, but it didn't work for me.

The Rehearsal was on the longlist for the 2010 Orange Prize, and it certainly had the feel of a 'prize winning' book, but not the kind I like, the kind that are more about the writing and the technique than the story. I read an interview with Catton in Belletrista, and it made me appreciate her writing and recognize that she was deliberate in all her decisions about the book.


also reviewed:
clare at paperbackreader
jackie at farmlanebooks
buried at buried in print

BOOK: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett, 4451 pages

Orange Longlist 2010

This is a book that lived up to its hype, and the hype will likely continue with its inclusion of the recently released Orange long listed books for 2010.

Setting: Mississippi, early 1960s

Published: 2009

Main characters: Miss Skeeter- daughter of a cotton plantation owner, recently graduated from university, didn't nab a husband at university and may be too tall to find one now,
Minnie and Aibilene - two black maids who work for some of Miss Skeeter's Junior League friends

Other Characters I liked: Stuart- the son of the state senator and blind date of Miss Skeeter was a minor character I liked
Miss Celia and her husband Johnnie - a white couple a little on the outside of the cook kids

Point of View: alternating first person between the three main characters

Title Significance: Minnie and Aibilene are 'the help' to the rich, or wanna be rich, white women of Jackson, Mississiippi

Plot: I knew very little about the book before I started, other than it was about race relations. It's a female dominated book, centering on race relations. That's all you really need to know.

Where I Read It: For a good chunk of the book, I read it through the night, in between helping my daughter throw up every 20 to 30 minutes. It was a high interest, easy read, with well developed characters and a plot that flew along, perfect for a late night

Other Books to Read: Mudbound, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Secret Life of Bees

Connection to Another Book I Read Recently: In The Book of Negroes, the main character didn't eat pork since she was a Muslim when she was kidnapped in Africa. When Skeeter is telling a bit about her family's maid, she mentions that her maid seldom ate pork.


Also Reviewed At:
lesley's book nook
arths at reading on a rainy day
devourer of books
caribou's mom
bellezza at dolcebellezza

BOOK: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 307 pages

Orange January (shortlist 2004); 20-10 challenge (set in Africa); Colourful Challenge

Adichie is a Nigerian writer, and is often compared to the famous Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, as a voice of modern Africa. And perhaps, in her first novel, she is paying homage to Achebe's famous novel, Things Fall Apart, with the opening line -

Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the etagere.

Other similarities are the theme of Christian missionaries and the conflict between new beliefs and old. Purple Hibiscus examines the relationships within one family, led by an extremely devout, well-off man, a leader of the community. However, his family life is not nice, and his controlling, violent ways cause repercussions. The family dynamics is set against a coup in Nigeria, and the rebellion against the totalitarian rule. Once his two teenagers spend some time in the city with his sister, they are exposed to a freedom that will change everything.

I knew very little about this book, other than I had enjoyed Adichie's other book, Half of a Yellow Sun. The beginning was a little slow, and I wasn't liking the characters. However, once I read the back cover and realized where the book was headed, I kept reading and then enjoyed the story. The aunt, Ifeoma, was a great character, a strong woman with strong convictions to do the right thing. This book wasn't as strong as Half a Yellow Sun, but it certainly shows Adichie's promise. For readers interested in African life, and for a book with many layers and messages - about government, church, traditions, and love, this is a worthwhile read.



Third book read! More details here, but if you read a novel or more, you too can post this snazzy badge on your blog. Next up, Winner 5X. I would so love to get the gold 10X badge, but I fear that final exams in January, and sports tournaments every weekend will conspire against me. My job that pays the bills and my talented sports-minded children interfere with my reading plans!

BOOK: Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan

Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan, 341 pages

TBR Lite; Orange January (shortlist, new author 2007)

I first heard of Poppy Shakespeare in Shakespeare Wrote for Money, one of Nick Hornby's essay books, and I made note. Several years later, it's my first complete book of 2010, to kick off Orange January.

It's a look into the mental illness world in England. I think it makes lots of statements about who belongs in institutions, what exactly makes someone crazy, the decisions made within the mental illness infrastructure. The story is narrated by N, a product of the system she proudly proclaims, starting when Poppy Shakespeare enters their Institution, the Dorothy Fish day center. N and Poppy are Dribblers, not as serious as the Flops, who are inpatient, while the Dribblers live on their own and spend time in the center. There is always a hierarchy.

N is a lifer, who never wants to leave, and has trouble understanding why Poppy doesn't want to stay, but N is chosen to help Poppy get around the place. By having N narrate, all the facts that are presented must be examined carefully, and really, the reader must read between the lines. The dialogue is rough, and slang, but I had no problem following it. It is ultimately very sad amidst the humor, and makes you wonder who is crazy and who isn't.

Weren't nobody else in the world, he said, not Astrid Arsewipe - couldn't argue with that - not Middle-Class Michael, not no one at all, alive or dead or both or neither, known as much about dribbling as I did. page 2

CHALLENGE: Orange January

It's time to start thinking about an Orange January! Will it be books from 2009's list, or into the older titles? Check out the Orange Prize Project blog for more ideas. Every January and July, fans of the Orange Prize read all they can in celebration.

Orange January Ideas:

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (2006 short list)
Small Island by Andrea Levy (2004 winner)
The Girls by Lori Lansens (2007 longlist)
26a by Diana Evans (2005 New Author winner)
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (2005 longlist)


What got read:
1. Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allen (2007 New Author short list)
2. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2004 short list)
3.

BOOK: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, 555 pages

Orange July: longlist 2009

This is very hard to review without getting into politics. American Wife is a fictionalized account of Laura Bush, here known as Alice Blackwell. It has to be understood that only some very superficial facts are known and based on the real Bushes, and the rest imagines what Laura/Alice might have thought and done on the way to becoming First Lady.

I'll have to say I liked Alice, and her relationship with Charlie/George. The novel is written as if Alice Blackwell has written an autobiography, facing her actions and decisions. Charlie comes off exactly as how I saw George Bush, which is not an unlikeable guy at all, but not the smartest either, someone who knows his limits and is very personable. Alice knows her husband best of all, and learns to live her life within the context of their public life. I liked the portrayal of their marriage and the love between them. It matches what I always imagined might have been there. If you believe marriage means compromise, then that is aptly demonstrated here.

The story moves along well, divided into 4 sections - Alice living at home, Alice meeting and marrying Charlie, the substantial years of their marriage, and then the presidency. In each section, Alice faces a crisis that calls on her to make major decisions, that all have future repercussions. The major facts that are known about the Bushes are here, and how Sittenfeld builds a possible world and marriage between Alice and Charlie is very believable, and I had to keep reminding myself that the conversations and other characters were all made up.

There are some real statements here about the judgments that get made about the Bushes, and famous people in general, based on only what the public sees and what the media shows. I enjoyed the book with its faux history. I was impressed with this version of Laura Bush and with the story Sittenfeld has imagined.

BOOK: I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn

I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn, 170 pages

Orange July

Amy Adams was Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum 2, and I was enchanted by her - both Amy and her portrayal of Amelia. I even got that sense of Earhart - that broad from the 1930s, doing her own thing in a world of men, in the book.

The premise of the book is to explain, in first and third person - sometimes at the same time, what happened to Amelia Earhart when she and her plane disappeared with her navigator in 1937. At times charming, this little book had the potential to be a loved book, but this time, it was just good. Maybe I read it at the wrong time or place, and that would be at the soccer pitch, because on another day, I might have loved it. I liked Amelia, and her strength. She was a bit reckless. The writing was poetic, with lovely images and metaphors. If you have an hour or two, this was a great little dip into the imagined past.

BOOK: The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly

The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly, 510 pages

Orange July: Winner, New Author 2007; Book Awards III; 3rd Canadian Book Challenge; Reading Around the World: Burma

It's a political book, a spiritual book, and a horrific look at life inside a Burmese jail.

The first third of the book follows Teza, the Songbird, jailed for opposing the military government of Myanmar. (Note to self - learn more about Burma, the coups, the people, the Peace Prize won by that woman.) Teza and his Buddhist life profoundly affect several people in the prison, including one of the jailers, Chit Naing, and an orphan, Little Brother, living in the jail. The last two thirds becomes very intense as everyone has to make difficult decisions. I found it a difficult book to read and had to take several breaks, but it was so worth it to finish it, and by about halfway through, I knew I was going to love it.

It reminded me of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, just in the way that it was epic in scope and showed the beautiful humanity that can exist, or rather must emerge, amidst terrible violence and brutal conditions. It makes me wonder what quality it is inside some people that causes them to inspire caring and elevates the people around them. And why it is that other people hate that quality and will do what they can to smash it out, but they never can, further infuriating them.

Overall, an excellent if difficult book.

BOOK: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, 548 pages

Man Booker short list 2002; Orange Prize Project; Orange July

setting: Victorian England, 1862, the hard-scrabble life in inner London and the gentle life on an estate

characters: Sue Trindle, Maud Lilly, Mrs Sucksby, and Gentleman (I can't give a description because no one is exactly who they say they are, maybe)

plot: no one likes spoilers and this book is so well plotted I am afraid to say anything for fear I'll say too much.

fingersmith: petty thief, or may also refer to someone who has mastered a skill involving the use of his or her fingers. (ooh, excellent title!)

themes: nature v nurture, sacrifices, betrayals.

what I liked: Victorian times, the plot and the twists, the cover, the overall tone of suspense in the book and the relationships amongst the characters.

what I didn't like: it was a little long, but I still couldn't put it down.

who else liked it: it was shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker in 2002

CHALLENGE: Orange July

jill at the magic lasso is once again hosting an Orange July after the very successful Orange January. The idea is to read books nominated for the Orange Prize. Over at the Orange Prize Project you can find a list of books that have won, or been nominated. You can also join up over there and keep track of your progress. For Orange July, you can set your own goal and decide what books you want to read. I've got a few books I've been wanting to read:

• Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (shortlist 2002)
  
• The Lizard Cage - Karen Connolly (winner 2007 - new author)
• American Wife, - Curtis Sittenfeld (longlist 2009)
  
• I Was Amelia Earhart - Jane Mendelsohn (shortlist 1997)

maybe for Orange January:

• Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allen (longlist 2007)

Whether I read them all in July remains to be see. I'd like to read two of them in July. Thanks for hosting this fun challenge, Jill!

BOOK: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, 294 pages

Orange Prize Winner; 1% well read

Very poetic, beautiful language, I enjoyed reading it even if I didn't necessarily know what was going on. It's not really a good sign if you have to check wikipedia or sparknotes after finishing a book to find out what exactly happened. I guess the main idea is about survivors and the guilt they live with. I liked the first section in the story of Jakob but was completely bewildered in the second section. Who was the narrator now?

The orphaned Jakob is taken in by Athos, a paleonbiologist, providing metaphors about unearthing things and looking below layers, and the fact that there can be a whole world buried beneath us that we can't see. They arrive in Canada from Greece each with a past they are trying to deal with.

I couldn't turn my anguish from the precise moment of death. I was focused on that historical split second: the tableau of the haunting trinity - perpetrator, victim, witness.
But at what moment does wood become stone, peat become coal, limestone become marble? The gradual instant.

I wasn't expecting a book about world war two, and I didn't realize that the Germans were in Greece too. Their reach was far and the after effects many, sometimes lasting generations.

But each time a memory or story slinks away, it takes more of me with it.

I'm not a fan of books told in metaphors, but this book is highly honored - Orange Prize Winner of 1997, so for the more literate of you, I recommend. And to be clear, I enjoyed reading the words, even if I didn't really understand the story, and I saw all the references as they floated over my head, I just didn't catch them. And yet, it was compelling and beautiful.

Here's the back cover testimonial:
Sensual, vivid, utterly spellbinding, Fugitive Pieces is a novel about loss, the process of memory, and the redemptive powers of love, which resonates long after the final page.

BOOK: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, 319 pages

Orange January; Orange Prize Winner: 2002

Can there be a love story when rebels hold people hostage? How about when no one speaks the same language? Is opera the universal language?

In an unnamed South American country, rebels take over the birthday party of Mr Hosakawa, hosted by the country in hopes that he will open a factory there. He has only agree to come because the famous soprano, Roxanne Coss will be singing. Unfortuneately, the president, the purpose of the kidnapping, decided at the last minute not to come to the party. The kidnapping turns into a Dog Day Afternoon, with no where to go and a long session. The rebels and the hostages gradually become closer as the seige continues.

The characters are beautifully written and given a story so easily that the reader knows who everyone is and all their history. Gradually the rebels are introduced and fleshed out as the hostages get to know them. The story unfolds so graciously and easily that it is easy to forget the violence of the situation. Everyone is a person we care about and want the best for. The Stockholm syndrome, whereby hostages begin to care for their captors, is easily developed and the reader becomes a part of that too. The pacing of the story was excellent and kept the feel of the events.

Really good book.

BOOK: The Road Home by Rose Tremain

The Road Home by Rose Tremain, 365 pages

book awards: Orange Prize 2008; unread authors; Orange January

Lovely tale of Lev, who arrives in London after a long bus ride from some unknown Eastern European country. For some reason, I assumed it was Poland, but I don't know why I thought that. Lev is leaving his daughter and his mother behind to try and make some money for a better life. It reminded me of all the men who have left the Maritimes to go to Alberta to make the good money. Not only is Lev facing a new language and country, but he is still grieving his late wife, Marina.

It's easy to like Lev, and cheer for him, so that even when he makes bad decisions, we still root for him. It can't be easy to start a new life, and Tremain captures the feelings Lev faced dramatically. At one point, I thought Lev would turn out to be a Walter Mitty sort, lost in his daydreams, but Lev had more focus and eventually, a goal he wanted to achieve so he battled that problem. I loved that Lev worked in a high end restaurant, and you can easily picture Gordon Ramsey of Hell's Kitchen fame as GK Ashe, and imagine Lev's experience in the kitchen.

For all you title drop fans, that moment when you find the title of the book in the prose, this book is a wonderland. Each chapter is titled and then a title drop occurs. Sweet! Lev learns to love, and develops great friends, especially Christy Slane, his Irish roommate who is also trying to move on with his life. Rudy, Lev's friend from the old country is another great character that Lev relies on for support.

Summary: good paced plot, wonderfully developed characters, and real life look at the life of a immigrant in London and the challenges faced by people who try to better their life from the old country.

CHALLENGE: Orange January

I will probably join Jill and the rest of the gang for a read in Orange January. This project asks readers to read at least one book which won or was nominated for the Orange Prize. I read Night Watch by Sarah Waters in July and it was a great book, and such an easy little project to take on. The list of books can be found at the Orange Prize Project blog and you can join in on the project there as well.

In January, I hope to read one of the following:

The Road Home or The Colour by Rose Tremain

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allen

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett