Category: Book Review

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Book Review: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult…

This is the first time i’m writing a review for a book on the same day i finished it. That shows you how much it has affected me. Usually i like to mull over a book for a bit after finishing to gather my thoughts but i felt this book has so much in it from page 1 that it would take too long and i wanted to pen down my thoughts in its raw form because it has left me reeling.

i have read several of her books but have never reviewed them. Why? Just because at those times i wasn’t writing book reviews at all. So just for the record, i have read Mercy, The Pact, My Sister’s Keeper, Vanishing Acts, Handle with Care, House Rules (the first one i read). The only one i didn’t quite like was Vanishing Acts, i felt that one lacked the usual intensity i have come to expect from Picoult’s stories.

So back to Sing You Home, it is a page-turner indeed! i was captured by her very real characters and the issues they faced. They were issues i have thought about, struggled to maintain a constant viewpoint/opinion and still seek an answer to – issues of infertility (close friends have experienced this), issues of divorce (again close friends), issues of faith, issues of depression, issues of the rights of the fetus (or in this story, the rights of the embryo), the rights of a parent, and in the forefront of the story, issues of gay rights.

i am a Christian and proud of it. My Lord is my Saviour, my Friend, my King, my Brother all in one. i love my Lord and believe His Word is true! But i have wrestled with loving the sinner and hating the sin, showing God’s love to everyone (regardless of who they are, what lifestyle they choose), yet standing firm and naming the sin for what it is – a sin in the eyes of God. i haven’t in practice had to choose sides – yet.

i’m a little sad that Picoult chose to show how un-compassionate the church can be. i’m not saying her portrayal of the church is wrong. There exist in this broken world churches and people just like in the book but i just wished that she had shown some of the church to be true followers of Jesus’ example of loving all. Maybe just one of the characters, Liddy (sister-in-law to the two main characters) showed some of this great love of God but it was vague.

i’m not going to give too much of the story away or the wonderful ending. So i’ll just give a brief outline. Max and Zoe have tried and tried to have a baby and have gone through so many treatments. She became pregnant. She lost the baby. They divorced. Now she has a chance to try again and build a family. But Max, with his new-found faith and religious family, stand in the way.

The other lovely feature about this book is that it has accompanying music, specifically written by Picoult and her friend for each major section of the book. i managed to only listen to a few because the QR reader on my phone didn’t work properly. The music certainly speaks from the heart of Zoe (who, in the story, is a music therapist). i liked what i heard.

This is a book which will leave you thinking and thinking and thinking some more…

syc

PS: i still am puzzling out the issues raised by this book… and maybe i will always do so till i arrive in Heaven. But i hope and pray that in my time on this earth, i will show God’s love to everyone i know rather than judge because who am i to judge, i am but a sinner myself. My role is to reflect God’s love to the world so that all may come to know Him.

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Book Review: A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen…

A little over 2 weeks ago, i wrote this post about how excited we were to be starting our Bob journey. And as promised, here’s the book review of both A Street Cat Named Bob and Bob: No Ordinary Cat.

This is also Tobias' first read of a true story...
This is also Tobias’ first read of a true story…

We’ll start with Tobias’ review of Bob: No Ordinary Cat. Since he doesn’t yet have an idea what a book review is, i sort of interviewed him. Here’s it:

S: What do you think of the book?
T: It’s good. It’s funny. I like Bob.

S: Why do you like Bob?
T: Cos he’s intelligent and cute.

S: Which is your favourite part?
T: I liked the part where Bob copied James on the toilet.

S: Which is the saddest part?
T: When James lost Bob.

S: Would you like to meet Bob and James?
T: Yes, very much.

S: Would you tell other kids to read this book?
T: Ja.

That must be the world’s shortest book review interview ever. But he truly did love the book very much and talked about it for days. Of course, he also liked the fact that he finished his book before mummy finished hers (he finished in 3 days actually). In my defense, even though his book had a few more pages than mine, his had pages with pictures of Bob (such cute pictures) and the font size was bigger.

Now for my review of A Street Cat Named Bob.

It is an honest book – i love that it reads like James is sitting right there telling you his story. There are no embellishments, just simply his story; a journey from drug addict to a recovering addict to being clean, all along Bob was there, bearing witness, keeping him on track, giving him a reason to be responsible and shape up.

Make no mistake, Bob needed James as much as James needed Bob. A street cat, however smart, can always do with a warm home and a good human to feed him and care for him. And Bob knew how to pick his human.

This is a story which i found amazing and heartwarming, and i highly recommend it for feel-good summer read.

i can’t wait to read the next one; The World According to Bob.

syc

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Book Review: The Magic Thief Trilogy by Sarah Prineas…

magicthief01_20130526a magicthief02_20130526b magicthief03_20130526ci have been waiting to write this review since i finished the last book, The Magic Thief Found, a couple of weeks ago. But things piled up and life got busy… anyhow, back to the books.

This trilogy consists of The Magic Thief, The Magic Thief Lost and The Magic Thief Found. i had bought The Magic Thief Found because the back of book blurb grabbed my attention and i liked the premise for the magic in the book. Then i found out it was a part of a trilogy so i waited till i got all 3 books before i started reading.

i read The Magic Thief and really enjoyed it, but i felt that it was really a stand-alone story and i didn’t feel drawn to carry on reading the second book immediately so i left it for a few months. Then i started reading The Magic Thief Lost about 6 weeks ago. I was so taken with the story i went on to read The Magic Thief Found immediately. Which for me is an unusual thing to do. If you have read my review of Inkheart, you would already know that i rarely read the same author consecutively.

i’m going to try not to reveal key plot points here so i’m going to be very vague about the storyline and plot. What i will do is tell you aspects of the whole trilogy which i did enjoy.

i loved Prineas’ idea of where magic comes from. i enjoyed her easy-to-read writing style and i was rooting for Conn, the main character, at every turn. Conn is the typical streetwise pickpocket urchin who, one night, picks the wrong pocket. He could have been killed but he wasn’t and thus begins his adventures as the apprentice of Nevery, the magician. His uncanny ability in magic and his understanding of magic in ways which no one can explain or much appreciate puts him in much danger.

The story pacing was good with humour and twists in the right places. i also like the maps, the recipes, the short descriptions of characters and places, but what i enjoyed doing was deciphering the secret messages throughout the book (usually put in at the end of letters or journal entries of the characters) using the Wellmet Runic Alphabet.

This isn’t written for adults per se, it is placed in the middle-grade category. So your 9+ year-olds and up would enjoy this. However, if you are looking for an easy, yet exciting read, with some fantasy thrown in, i would recommend The Magic Thief Trilogy.

syc

PS: i was searching Amazon for some pictures and came across this. So there is yet another book, Winterling, a spin-off from this trilogy. Maybe i will check it out soon 😉