Tag Archives: Amodini

Title : Rules of CivilityAuthor : Amor TowlesGenre : HistoricalPages : 333 (Hardcover)Publisher : Viking (Penguin Books)Source : Publisher ARCRating : 3.5/5
Katey Kontent and Eve Ross are great friends. They room together and have come to New York city for work – Katey is a legal typist and Eve a marketing assistant. Each of the girls is very different – Katey comes from blue-collar stock and is looking to make her way up in New York City, while Eve comes from money- money she doesn’t want. Both, relatively impoverished,…

Title : The Track of SandAuthor : Andrea CamilleriPublisher : Penguin Genre : Crime / MysteryPages : 258Rating : 4/5
They tell me that Camilleri is the author of best-sellers, but I was skeptical to say the least, since this book is a translation of the Italian original, and I think translations may not quite agree with me. It took a while to get into the book; there were many, many characters all of whom had similar sounding names. But, primarily there’s Inspector Salvo Montalbano, and his officers : Fazio,…

Title – Q: A NovelAuthor : Evan ManderyRelease Date : Aug 23, 2011 Genre : Contemporary FictionPublisher : Harper CollinsPages : 368Rating : 4.5/5Source : NetGalley/Publisher ARC
If you knew what your future had in store would you change the present to make it better ? Quite the question, isn’t it ? Evan Mandery weaves his novel around just such a premise. The blurb about this book seemed really enticing : a man is informed of future not-so-pleasant events in his life, and is advised to make different decisions to…

Book : One of our Thursdays is missingAuthor : Jasper FfordeGenre : Sci-fi, FantasyPublisher : VikingRating : 3.5/5
“One of our Thursdays is missing” is the sixth book of the Thursday Next series. I read the first and adored it; it seemed like the perfect mix of literary sci-fi, fantasy (or suspension of belief if you prefer that), and a nice twist on the good vs. bad plotline. If this is your first introduction to the Next series, I’ll tell you now that you should be reading this stuff in…

Title : HeartstoneAuthor : C.J. SansomPublisher : Viking AdultGenre : Historical fiction/ mysteryPages : 626 (Hardcover)Published : Jan 24, 2011Rating : 4.5/5
Heartstone is the 5th book in C.J.Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series. In it, Sansom’s hunchbacked lawyer hero takes on another intriguing case. The time is of Catherine Parr’s reign on the throne as Consort of Henry VIII. Five other wives having being done away with (marriages either annulled and/or wives beheaded) Queen Catherine is a just but careful woman. Ever loyal to her servants, the Queen has one of…

Geraldine Brooks is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and The New York Times bestseller, People of the Book. Her fourth and newest novel is CALEB’S CROSSING (Viking; On sale, May 3, 2011). Thanks to the publisher, I’ll be giving away 2 galleys of the book. To be considered for the give-away, please email me or leave a comment here or at the Review Room. You must be a US/Canada resident to be eligible. 
Note : Galleys are paperback editions of the book, used for proof-reading/reviewing before the actual book…

Title : Finding NoufAuthor : Zoe FerrarisGenre : Mystery/Suspense/CulturalPublisher : Houghton Mifflin HarcourtPages : 305Rating : 4/5
Finding Nouf is about the disappearance of a 16 year old girl. Nouf ash-Shrawi, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, was by all accounts surrounded by comforts and led a happy life. Also she was to be married in three days. Her sudden disappearance leads to much speculation and efforts are made to find her. Did she run away ? Was she kidnapped ? And most importantly – is she still…

Title : The blood of flowersAuthor : Anita AmirrezvaniPages : 384Publisher : Little, Brown and CompanyRating : 4/5
This book tells the story of a 14 year old young woman in 17th century Persia (now Iran) who, after her father’s death, is forced to seek support from her uncle. Her mother and she (and she remains nameless), then travel to the city of Isfahan to shelter at Gostaham’s house. As destitute relatives they are the lowest of the low, and treated as such by his wife, Gordiyeh, and family members.…

Title : Empire FallsAuthor : Richard RussoRating : 4/5
It’s been a while since I read this novel, but I still remember it as being one told with great sympathetic skill. Let me explain that. Most “contemporary” novels deal with day-to-day life and present issues. There are husbands and wives, and parents and children, their lives fraught with complexity and hidden motivations and the plain old drudgery of not losing the battle. Generally I can do without such stories. However, told as Mr. Russo tells it, sketched with such an…

Here’s a chance to win this book by noted Swedish writer Ake Edwardson ! Free !
The book releases September 28th, 2010. To enter the giveaway, check out details here.  The contest is open to all book-lovers with a shipping address in the US or Canada. You can turn in an entry till the end of September after which I will pick a random comment/email, among the correct entries to receive this book. Check back here or at my blog to see if you have won ! The book be…