Walden by Henry David Thoreau

My recent read was Walden by Henry David Thoreau which was a book I had on my shelf for a while and had been wanting to read due to what I have read in regards to its philosophical and environmental perspectives.

This book is autobiographical depicting the authors time of which he disconnected from society, deciding to be self sufficient building his own house and living near Walden pond for two years. The author describes his experience and thoughts on those experiences during the book whether that is certain things within nature or his views on reading literature. This is not a book that is an easy read and I found it was a book a person should take in their stride as I found at times it was tricky to read a lot of pages all at once.

There are parts throughout the book whether the point of reference or the style of language expounded by the author which was difficult to understand. However, I do feel that despite this I am going to do more research and look it into summaries of certain parts of the book which may make things more understandable along with having additional explanation of the historical context of which Thoreau refers to.

Reading this the descriptions and thoughts of the author are a meditation within themselves, where the philosophical parts the book I found extremely interesting, resonating with my spiritual ideas.

I would certainly recommend this book but advise to do research during reading this to get clarification or after finishing the book as with this added understanding feel this would give a even better understanding.

My next book I will be reading is Storm of the Swords by George RR Martin

Blog written by Conor Mitchell

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Pre Covid 19 I had gone on a number of holidays one to Bosnia and the other to Albania with both having a huge impact on me giving me a thirst to wanting to know more about these countries. So I decided to do research into the literature of these countries. As previously talked about on this blog I have reviewed the brilliant ‘The Palace of dreams’ by the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. However, despite the author not being of Bosnian nationality I do believe The People of the Book does give an insight into Bosnia’s history.

The book takes in Sarajevo in 1996 during the Balkans war where Dr Hanna Heath a book conservator is asked to inspect the Sarajevo Haggadah. This Jewish book is over 500 years old, so while the inspection is done Hannah finds items such as a white hair, wine stain and butterfly which lead the investigation further into the history of the book. The book then goes back in time to Sarajevo during the Nazi occupation, Vienna during the 1890s, Seville during the 1480s and Venice during the 1600s. The author tells us how these items including the haggadah came into being giving beautifully detailed imaginative stories which mixing between fact and artistic licence, creating a truly gripping book.

I do feel this has similarities to Kate Mosse novels I have read previously, however, there are more points in time in history and places that are described by the author. The author doing this you may think will create potential confusion but this is not the case due to the authors expert skills. What is also brilliant is the way in which the author creates so many characters within these stories at points in history all having various different personalities, this is expounded brilliantly.

The book does really delve into the religious tolerances and intolerance’s during certain points in history. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

The next book I will be reading is Walden by Henry David Thoreau

This blog was written by Conor Mitchell

The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This was my choice for this months book club. I’d had this on my bookshelf for a while but was looking forward to reading it where it certainly did not disappoint!

Throughout the majority book it is written in first person from the perspective of a sympathiser to the communist cause in Vietnam. Half French and half Vietnamese, the character is a Captain in the Vietnamese army being a close colleague to the General gaining information and sending this to the Vietnamese communists. However, on leaving Vietnam to go to America after the Communist insurgency in Vietnam the character continues his role as a mole.

The character divulges all the information of what he did along with his thoughts on situations throughout the book, gaining an insight into his upbringing and how he had come to believe in the communist cause.

The book itself in terms of events and perspectives is absolutely fascinating however the prose itself is just fantastic. I can not emphasise how articulate and eloquent the prose was, engrossing me in his circumstances which often were hair raising at times. Due to this book it has given me a thirst for more knowledge on the Vietnam war also.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone as I would say this is the best book I have read so far this year and possibly ever!

The next book I will be reading is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

The Lady from Tel Aviv by Rabai Al Madhoun

This was a novel that I had on my bookshelf for a while riveting at the possibility of how interesting this book would be and it did not disappoint!

After nearly forty years, Walid Dahman a journalist is arriving in Gaza to see his mother. The novel at first travels back in time to Walids early childhood giving the reader an explanation on why it has been so long since Walid has seen his mother.

The story continues by an interaction on the flight to Tel Aviv when a fellow passenger Dana who is Jewish starts a conversation with Walid where they start talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is an interesting piece of dialogue.

On arrival in Tel Aviv, we see the bureaucracy and petty things he is subjected to from Israelis and Palestinians. From his Palestinian cab driver to bureaucracy at the Gaza crossing he is exposed to, where his British passport does not help the matter.

On returning to his extended family and larger community where he at last sees his much older and wizened mother. The reader experiences through Walids perspective the changes he has seen since his childhood and the fears such as power outages and being hit by a stray bullet.

While the story does have a focus on Palestinians and their lives, the character of Dana who is a Jewish actress who keeps in contact via email with Walid adds a humanity to this conflict giving a unifying message-this isn;t ‘Us vs Them’ but a ‘people living under one land’.

Whatever peoples views are on this situation I feel the book gives an insight and perspective that will not find in a newspaper or by a major media news outlet as the author allows through dialogue in the book for the characters to give their explain their experiences allowing for a more nuanced approach to the views regarding the conflict.

This is a book I would highly recommend for anyone to read!

My next book I will be reading is The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

After previously reading the first and second book of the hunger games series which I thought were excellent where the third book certainly did not disappoint.

Mockingjay starts a few months after the second hunger games. Katniss is alive but Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. The story describes the situation regarding District 12 which has been firebombed by the Capitol but District 13 exists.

It is intended that Katniss was rescued from the Quarter Quell for the efforts of the rebellion to overthrow the Capitol. District 13 has emerged from the shadows with Katniss being the pawn in its aim to overthrow the Capitol. The success depends of Katniss, the mockingjay to take the steps needed to overthrow the Capitol accepting responsibility for the countless lives restored and being the poster girl for the rebellion no matter what.

I found this a fantastic ending to the series where my initial thoughts prior to reading of what I thought might happen were completely obliterated. If anyone thought they know what will happen in this final book, let me tell you this is not at all easy to predict. The book has many twists and turns in which like the other two books it gives thought provoking ideas which I feel have a parallel with today’s issues in modern society.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoyed the previous two books.

My next book I will be reading is The Lady from Tel Aviv by Rabai Al-Madhoun

Written by Conor Mitchell

The Stranger by Harlan Coben

This was a choice from a member of the book club, in which I had heard of this previously through the Netflix series. However, I did not watch the series so was interested to see what this book would be like. I am not an avid reader of crime books which again added to the interest as to what I would think about the book.

The book is set in recent times in suburban New Jersey where Adam Price has the perfect life; nice house, two children and his beautiful wife, Corinne. However, on attending a meeting for his kids Lacrosse team out of nowhere a stranger approaches him and tells him a secret about his wife. All of a sudden the supposed perfection of his life falls away and he investigates this secret finding out that this secret goes far deeper than he will anticipate.

The book itself is an easy read where I found it had many twists and turns however, I did not find Adam’s emotions and feelings to be authentic at times throughout the story. Despite this, I would say this is a good read for anyone whether they an avid reader of crime or not.

My next read will be Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Written by Conor Mitchell

A Clash of the Kings by George RR Martin

After reading a Song of Ice and Fire a few months ago, I decided to read the second book in the series, A Clash of the Kings.

The story starts where the first book left off with civil war happening across the Seven Kingdoms, the Nights watch deciding to venture north of the wall while Daenerys ventures east in search of the throne of what she claims is her birthright while we see the aftermath of Sansa and Aryas circumstances.

I thought again, despite this being a big read (969 pages) there was no lulls in the story/stories of each character where despite the amount of characters and complexity of storylines there was no confusion. Along with this, the description of the environment, feelings and emotions of the characters were fantastic giving the reader a connection with the characters along with the world the author has created.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who had or had not read books of the fantasy genre before.

My next book I will be reading which is a suggestion form our book club is The Stranger by Harlan Coben.

Written by Conor Mitchell

Machines Like me by Ian McEwan

Machines like me is set in an alternative 1980s world where Britain loses the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher loses in a general election to Labour leader Tony Benn and Alan Turing is alive making massive contributions towards Artificial Intelligence.

The story focuses on thirty two year old Charlie who buys himself a new artificial human called Adam after receiving windfall following a family members death. When he starts a relationship with someone who lives in the same block of flats as him they start programming Adam to their own criteria of what they think Adam should be like. Whilst Charlie and Miranda are in a relationship , a love triangle blossoms between all three of them.

I found this very thought provoking in terms of what today in society do we class as conscious? Will artificial intelligence be classed as conscious beings? What makes us human and conscious? In addition to this, it gave many thoughts on how society will deal with artificial intelligence with the loss of jobs for people also. At times the information explained was in depth when looking at the mechanics and science behind artificial intelligence however, I did find the alternative 1980s very interesting also.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone as I do feel this discusses a pressing issue, opening up debate on what society will do with the prevalence of artificial intelligence.

The next book I will be reading is Clash of the Kings by George RR Martin

By Conor Mitchell

Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly

Last months book was the psychological crime thriller Open Your Eyes. Set in an affluent neighborhood of Liverpool is where writers Jane and Leon live. They have two children and are living an incredibly happy marriage however, when Leon is attacked by a nail gun resulting in a coma, changing both lives forever.

While Jane digs deeper into what has gone on she starts to realise her husband has hidden secrets away from her to the family’s own detriment.

I don’t usually read crime or psychological thriller but I found this an interesting read where it hooked me throughout. It also gave an insight into what into the life of people who have brain injuries and how this affects them along with close relatives on a everyday basis. In this regard, it gave I feel more depth to the novel rather than it being just a conventional crime thriller book.

I would recommend this to anyone especially those who like crime fiction. What were your thoughts on the book?

The next read will be machines like me by Ian McEwan

Blog post written by Conor Mitchell

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

This was a book I had not read since childhood so thought it would be interesting to see what I remembered with nostalgia was the same now?

The book follows the adventures of Huckleberry Finn along with his friend Jim as they travel down the Mississippi river in their raft where descriptions and events are written from Huckleberry Finns perspective. Reading this, was like reliving my childhood where the mischievous and cheeky manner of the characters are prevalent throughout the book. The language was tricky to understand at times, however, despite this I still enjoyed the light hearted way of the story.

I would recommend this to people of all ages, who want to read something light hearted and mischievous in the current times we are living through, this is the book for you. My next book I will be reading is Open your Eyes by Paula Daly.

By Conor Mitchell

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