When my bookclub chose a thriller taking place in Russia for the month of June, I was ecstatic. I am a big fan of crime procedurals and I love Saint Petersburg, so I was sold – until I realized it was actually written by a Brit. Now, I’m not saying people cannot write books in whichever culture they’d wish to, I was just apprehensive because when you tackle something like this, you better do a superb job of it – otherwise it will feel like […]
A magical unresolution to refugee realities
Another great pick from my Internations bookclub, Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West left me with seriously mixed feelings. On the one hand, I love books that make me question my own paradigms and face my short comings, and this book has definitely scored high points in this category. I also enjoyed the way the author escapes from the commonplace formula of boy meets girl – boy falls in love with girl – they overcome difficulties of their own doing and live happily ever after. Nothing of the sort […]
Murder, intrigue and the London tube
I was very happy when the first pick of my bookclub for 2018 was a mystery novel, which tends to be a genre of fiction I quite enjoy. I haven’t read Clare Mackintosh’s first novel, which was apparently very successful, so I didn’t approach this novel with too many expectations. This books folows 2 main characters: Firstly, we have Zoey, a 40-year-old mother of 2 who one day sees her picture in the newspaper advertising unspecified services amongst ads of the phone-sex variety, and subsequently […]
Another lukewarm Sherlock Holmes adventure
As I slowly continue to work my way through the complete works of the world’s most famous detective through the hands of his creator, I find myself kind of grateful that so many others have attempted to capture his essence in so many different means. I say that because I have loved all Sherlock Holmes related entertainment for so long, and I’d never want to give it up. But if I’d started out with the original books, I would have certainly never wanted to keep […]