Book Quotes of the Week

"All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape." Arthur Christopher Benson

"Words are the voice of the heart." Confucius

"Are we not like two volumes of one book?" Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

"It's the special role of a novelist to have the mystical belief in the power of art to bring meaning to people's lives". Rachel Kushner

Find more book quotes here.

Benali, Abdelkader "Wedding by the Sea"

Benali, Abdelkader "Wedding by the Sea" (Dutch: Bruiloft aan zee) - 1996

A weird book. I chose it because it's written by a Dutch author with Moroccan origin and I thought it might be interesting. He received the Best Literary Debut Prize in the Netherlands for this and was shortlisted for the Libris Literatuur Prijs which is like the Booker Prize.

Anyway, the story itself is interesting but the author swerves from one topic to another without any lines that you can follow. I thought it might be more a story of Moroccans in the Netherlands rather than what it was, someone growing up in the Netherlands seeing life in Morocco from the outside. Again, not a bad subject but the author didn't manage to capture me. A confusing story with an even more confusing end.

From the back cover:

"Twenty-year-old Lamarat Minar returns home from Holland to a deserted seaside village in Morocco for his sister Rebekka's wedding. During the festivities, he discovers that the groom has made his escape - to the local brothel, 'Lolita'.

Lamarat is given the task of retrieving Mosa, the reluctant husband-to-be, and returning him to his waiting bride. With the help of know-all taxi driver Chalid, and after many U-turns, detours and hairpin bends, Lamarat finds Mosa, and drags hm back to the village by the sea where Rebekka is waiting to administer a sweet and gruesome revenge …"

Lennox, Judith "Before the Storm"

Lennox, Judith "Before the Storm" - 2008

I wouldn't exactly call this book bad chick lit but I'm sure it goes very well with the description "summer read". The story of a young man who falls in love with a young woman, the family they subsequently have, problems with relatives, a little bit about the war, and there's your story. It was a nice read that I can recommend to anyone who doesn't want too much of a challenge. But that was it.

From the back cover:

"On an autumn day in 1909 wealthy young Richard Finborough catches sight of twenty-year-old Isabel Zeale at the harbour at Lynmouth in Devon. Her beauty captivates him. Aware of shameful secrets in her past, Isabel has no intention of letting anyone into her life, but Richard's persistence and ardour eventually win him her trust - and her hand in marriage. The decades pass and Isabel and Richard raise a family through the turbulent times of the First World War and the 1920s. As her children reach adulthood, Isabel is convinced her secret is safe - until an old acquaintance emerges from the shadows, turning her world upside down. To protect the happiness of those she loves most, Isabel must find the courage to confront what came before, and live with the consequences..."

Book Quotes of the Week

"School libraries are part sanctuary, part laboratory, part university, part launch pad; every library on earth is a multiverse - truth inside of truth, story inside of story, idea inside of idea - which is to say, infinite." Kelly Barnhill

"Reading a good book in silence is like eating chocolate for the rest of your life and never getting fat." Becca Fitzpatrick

"What great writers do is to turn the reader into the writer." David Comer Kidd

"My imagination has always topped anything a movie could come up with ..." Karen Marie Moning

Find more book quotes here.

Frazier, Charles "Varina"

Frazier, Charles "Varina" - 2018

After falling in love with Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain", I have read all of his books so far. I had no idea what this book was about, that it followed the life of Jefferson Davis' wife. How much of that is true, I have no idea since I never heard of her before but the other dates and remarks about the people seem to be correct, as I would have expected of this author.

We always know too little about the wives of important historical figures. The saying goes that behind every great man there's a great woman, so I expect there must still be a lot of fantastic stories about great women out there.

I have read quite a few books about the Civil War so far and there is always some different aspect to look at. Because any war always comes down to the people who have to suffer through it.

But even if the subject wouldn't interest me, Charles Frazier deserves to be read because of his beautiful writing, he has a very special way of describing anything around him. I would love for him to publish a new book every year but I guess that would not necessarily be a good idea. So, I just have to wait another couple of years until I can enjoy another one of his great writings.

There is only one thing that bothered me, and this must not necessarily be the author's fault. Varina Davis is always referred to as V in the novel. I guess it saves some paper but you always have to "remember" what her name is and that that's what this abbreviation means. I wouldn't have voted for that option.

From the back cover:

"In his powerful fourth novel, Charles Frazier returns to the time and place of Cold Mountain, vividly bringing to life the chaos and devastation of the Civil War

With her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects a life of security as a Mississippi landowner. He instead pursues a career in politics and is eventually appointed president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the white-hot center of one of the darkest moments in American history - culpable regardless of her intentions.

The Confederacy falling, her marriage in tatters, and the country divided, Varina and her children escape Richmond and travel south on their own, now fugitives with 'bounties on their heads, an entire nation in pursuit.'

Intimate in its detailed observations of one woman’s tragic life and epic in its scope and power, Varina is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences."

Scott, Mary; West, Joyce "Who Put It There?"

Scott, Mary; West, Joyce "Who Put It There?" - 1965 (Inspector Wright #5)

This was a sad book to read because I know it will probably be the last book by Mary Scott that I read for the first time. I doubt I'll ever find any of her other ones. If any of my friends and readers knows of one that I didn't mention in my post "Mary Scott writes about New Zealand".

In this novel, the authors let a young girl find herself in the position that there is a body in her boot (or, if you're American, in her boot). And that's how the trouble starts …

Another pleasant read - despite the murder - of one of my favourite authors from my teenage years.

From the back cover:

"On her way to take up a position as companion to the wealthy Mrs Warwick-Smith, Delia Hunt is held up by a thick fog. By the time she is clear of the fog she has had morning tea with an attractive man and been stopped by policemen who discover a body in the boot of her car. The body is that of Mr Warwick-Smith. Who put it there?

Who killed the unpopular Mr Warwick-Smith? When Inspector Wright is called in, he finds that any one of several people, from friends to groundskeepers to mysterious cousins, could have done it. To complicate the mystery further, the overpowering Augusta Wharton, famous author of 'novels of passion', and her meek secretary, Miss Minnie Pink, become involved. The deeper Inspector Wright digs into the murder, the more strange things he discovers in what is normally a quiet country district.

In an exciting, deftly written climax, the murderer gives themselves away - by attempting a second murder."

Unfortunately, Mary Scott's books are out of print and only available second hand. I have heard in the meantime, that you can buy some of them as eBooks.

Donaldson, Julia "The Gruffalo"

Donaldson, Julia "The Gruffalo" - 1999

A happy book. A funny book. A book about an animal that doesn't exist and therefore might have terrible claws and terrible jaws but can't scare you because after all ... it does not exist.

This was a huge favourite in our house when the boys were little. It reminds you of a fairy tale but is a modern storybook. Lots of beautiful illustrations, a funny but simple story, not as short as some other board books, already a "big kid" book but equally enjoyed by kids of any age. It rhymes, you can almost sing along to the rhythm, but you can definitely growl and hoot along, imitate all the animal sounds from the forest.

Charming.

From the back cover:

"A mouse is taking a stroll through the deep, dark wood when along comes a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake. The mouse is good enough to eat but smart enough to know this, so he invents . . . the gruffalo! As Mouse explains, the gruffalo is a creature with terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. But Mouse has no worry to show. After all, there’s no such thing as a gruffalo. . ."

I saw it's also available in a Scottish edition. That should be fun.