Here's To New Beginnings

   

Happy 2018, dear readers!

Last year was really busy for me. The move from the Philippines was extra challenging -been to places, made some new friends, and tackled some pretty weighty obstacles. I labored to realign some priorities and that helped me grow these past months since I came here in Canada. I took a couple of online courses from the University of Toronto and earned my certifications last November 2017. I had an odd job to gain a Canadian experience, which was not all that bad since I gained some good friends and connections through it.

   I managed to squeeze in a few readings, here and there. And here's what Goodreads has to say about it... (click photo)

I'm not a mathematical genius, but I'm pretty sure I counted only 37 books in there. Anyways, here are my best books for 2017 (in no particular order):

1. The Awakening by Amanda Stevens -I love how this series ended. It showed how Amelia evolved immensely and exacted due retribution in the process.
2. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - Ove’s an unlikely hero with an exceptional story.
3. Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick - It tackles family and communal issues, childlessness, and one's sense of self-efficacy with a good sense of honesty and depth.
4. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce - I still cannot talk about this book. It was so painfully keen, and yet, I can't recommend it highly enough.
5. Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris - A favorite historical fiction series. There's no book in this series that I don't like. Every single one of them went through thorough research.
6. Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino - This is my 2nd Higashino, it doesn't disappoint at all. If you want a good mystery, you have one here.
7. The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce - Another RJ book, yes. The reader has to listen to this book intently, don't just read it.
8. A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin - the ending of this installment got me in knots for some time. I wish there was a way to finish this series.
9. Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen - A short read, but dense in many ways.
10. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman - My second FB book. I cried without tears with this one, I don't know how else to express how heartbreaking it was.

The notable ones are:

1. I Murdered My Library by Linda Grant
2. See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
3. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
4. Nutshell by Ian McEwan
5. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin 
6. Autumn by Ali Smith
7. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
8. The Way Through Doors by Jesse Ball

Wow, that's half of what I read last year. But that's exactly what I promised myself, that I'll aspire reading really satisfying books. Hopefully, 2018 will be filled with them, as well.


Let us be optimistic that my blogging will improve, too. I'll still be posting ARC reviews, some pre-Blogger reviews, Wednesday Spotlights, and maybe some Author Interviews. We'll see. Stay in touch.


Oh, by the way, it's The Page Walker's 5th Bloggy Birthday. Thank you for staying with me.

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THE WAY THROUGH DOORS by Jesse Ball

Many times, I've read this book alluded as Calvino-esque, which I find really wrong, foremost, because I cannot stress enough how much I disliked how the stories in Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler were put together. Meanwhile, the stories in The Way Through Doors conjunct intriguingly well. And this, this is an absolute pleasure to read.

Let us make a pact, she said. To madness at every juncture!

It is fortuity that our enigmatic protagonist, Selah Morse, is a pamphleteer, since, in this winding novel, he must tell stories all night to an equally enigmatic young lady suffering (plausibly) from a temporary memory loss. He began by explaining his work as a municipal inspector (doing many things, yet seemingly nothing), in a surreptitious office inside a surreptitious building, with a badge that can open many doors. His stories bled into stories that bled some more, exactly like two dogs chasing each other in circles. There is nothing linear about this book except for Mora Klein having drawn an image with precise angles. His peculiar characters, including a lover, a guess artist, and a gambler, evaporate only to apparate again in another story.

My favorite story -well it is not the story itself, but how the words were knitted together nicely- is Entering Rooms, a Grammar and Method.

Sometimes one must be more careful of being seen in happiness than in grief or anger. A great deal may be told from the expression of a happy man or woman. In any case, one must be prepared for the worst, and ready. Therefore, pause a moment before passing through a door, unless, of course, one is being watched on the outside, or one’s approach to the door is being timed, as in a situation when one is buzzed through an exterior door. In that case, one does not have the leisure to pause, for that pause would in its turn be noted and interpreted in a variety of ways, some of which would be harmful. Therefore, perhaps we should say, make the pause a mental pause, a sort of inner unveiling of precaution. It should last barely a second, and immediately preface the entering of the room in question.

A very curious story, too, because of our protagonist’s name, Selah, which if translated literally is “Pause”. Now thinking about it, most of the names here are curious.

THE WAY THROUGH DOORS is a very interesting read, with its iced tea that could taste better in a Cabernet bottle, the dead-letter office that housed a couple and their dog, and the secret of  Lincoln’s Folly.

Question:  Is Selah Morse as cute as Jesse Ball?

I don't know. It didn't say.

Book details:
Title:  The Way Through Doors
Author:  Jesse Ball
Publication:  February 10, 2009; Vintage
Genre:   Metafiction
Rating: ★★★★

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SHANNA by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Shanna, the Ice Queen, refuses to be forced into marriage unless it is for true love.  But her father, Lord Orlan Trahern, will not simply bend to her wishes.  Lord Trahern wants his lineage to continue.  He needs heirs… soon.  It will take a great scheme to outwit her father.  A scheme that Shanna never knew will catch her heart off-guard.

“I think I’ve loved you forever,” Shanna confessed in wonder. “When the scales of blindness were lifted from my eyes, I saw you not as a dragon, but as the one I would have chosen.”

A prisoner condemned to death, Ruark, crossed the seas to the Caribbean and accepted a life of bondage to collect a bargain not fully met.  He vowed to win his heart’s desire with everything he has.

“You did choose me, remember?” Ruark grinned.

This is a beautiful story of how fates are intertwined; and how true love can be found in very odd circumstances.  I know… the usual stuff, right?  What makes this different is the mystery and action attached to the whole plot.  I never get tired of reading and rereading this story since I was 15.  SHANNA taught me how to be fierce and fight for what I want, not just for love, but for everything I believe in. This book started me into collecting  Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's works.  She’s a genius.  Her romance and language were never cheap.  She will always be the Queen of Historical Romance for me.

BTW, there'd be pirates.

Book Details:
Title:  SHANNA
Author:  Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
ISBN:  00380385880
Publication: Avon Books, 1977
Pages: 666
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Purchased copy
Review Rating: ★★★★★/ ♥ 


*Originally posted here.

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Book Review | AUTUMN by Ali Smith

AUTUMN begins in a dream-like state. Daniel Gluck is dead. He supposed he is in heaven because he looks young again and naked. It is as if rebirth took place by the seashore and he is the only one who survived. The truth is, the time has finally caught up with Daniel. He is reliving some old memories, and escape is inevitable at this state.

Is there never any escaping the junkshop of the self?

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Demand is experiencing the hard reality of the bureaucratic world. Her passport application was rejected: “Your face is the wrong size… The correct size in the photograph submitted, the man says, is between 29 millimeters and 34 millimeters. Yours falls short by 5 millimeters.” Apparently, there are correct stipulations in life, measurements that we have to abide by, like sizes, dates, and time. Very unlike in death.

This is my first Ali Smith, and I find myself in a difficulty here, describing how her writing works, or how this book worked for me. To call her wonderful seems underrated. To pronounce her difficult, on the other hand, seems obtuse. And yet, I find her both wonderful and difficult.

I find her words fluid, yet I don’t know where it will lead me. They seem to make no sense until it gets me where it needs me to be, where it is profound and unblinking. Smith can move from poetic, to conversational, and matter-of-factly funny. At one point, the book tells about the Brexit and the chaos it brought to the English nation. Still, in a succession of recollections, it tells about life in its minute form. Autumn is the paradoxical view of death and birth, of letting go and seeding. It tells us that time is not really our enemy, but not exactly our friend either.

Autumn is the first book in the Seasonal Quartet, followed by Winter.

Book details:

Title:  Autumn

Author:  Ali Smith

Publications: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Pantheon, 07 Feb 2017

Genre: Literary Fiction / Women's Fiction

Rating: ★★★★

*Thank you, Pantheon and Netgalley for the review copy.

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Book Review | YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin

     

August 29, 2017

Penguin Random House

Sincerely sharp!

I won a copy through Goodreads giveaways. I was so excited because having read THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY, I knew Ms. Zevin will pull off another unconventional structure.

I am getting ahead of myself again, let’s return to the beginning…

Aviva Grossman is on her first internship -had an affair with a politician (very much married), blogged about it, and the netizens made sure that she is never forgotten. A second chance is so bleak. Her relationship with her parents was affected, her studies and career were affected, and even her sex life was affected. Until she decided to reinvent herself.

“They didn’t put a scarlet letter on her chest, but they didn’t need to. That’s what the Internet is for.”

The book is divided into five parts, told by women from different generations, in honest-to-God details. Women whose resilience was highlighted through their flaws. Their voices have varying levels that strongly speak of distinctiveness and worth. Ms. Zevin made her every character undeniably timely and relevant.

The plot discloses effortlessly, using an unusual book structure. It was refreshing, absorbing the reader from start to finish. It amazes me how the various approaches helped highlight the noteworthy parts further.

"Life unspools more inevitably."

Do not let the book cover deceive you into thinking that this is just another light read. It is funny and entertaining, yes, but it is also thought-provoking, hitting each nail in the head. YOUNG JANE YOUNG is a story of women empowerment, survival, and the biased sexist degradation that still plagues women today.

Book details:

Title:  Young Jane Young

Author:  Gabrielle Zevin

Publication:  August 29, 2017; Penguin Random House

Genre:  Fiction

Rating:  ★★★★


*Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada and Goodreads, for sending me a copy. 

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Book Review | SELECT by Marit Weisenberg

October 3, 2017
Charlesbridge Teen

“It had always been a fact of life that we were biologically different—better—and that it had to be kept secret.”  

Seventeen-year-old Julia Jaynes has the perfect life. She’s beautiful, freakishly athletic, and extremely smart. That’s because she comes from a race of highly-evolved humans living in the heart of Austin, Texas.  

In order to protect their anonymity and preserve their elite society, Julia’s powerful father forces her to suppress her abilities. When she accidentally demonstrates her super human prowess in public, she’s banished to the one place meant to make her feel inferior: public high school. Thrust into the confusion and humiliation of a normal high school, Julia is just trying to keep her head down when John Ford strolls into her life. (Read complete synopsis here.)

This book basically has that Star-Crossed-Lovers trope. Julia Jaynes was born to a billionaire family with genetically superior genes than common humans. For decades, her kind is hiding in plain sight among the populace. And despite their great fortune and efforts, they are close to extinction. Meanwhile, John Ford is your average senior high school guy struggling to get into college through a scholarship.

The book synopsis said it all. Readers don’t have to look very far and grasp that this book has all the trending YA elements:  (1) a certain group of people with inhuman abilities, (2) they need to keep their identity a secret, (3) intermingling is a big no, (4) angsty teenagers, (5) stunning beauty, and (6) a love triangle. If you are into all of that, then, this book is for you. However, I am looking for something… more. I was looking for something outstanding in the story that may trump those previous YA books. Something absolutely exciting or may shock the senses, that will remain with the reader for a long period of time.

Now, I am not saying that there is nothing great about this book. The story is really well-paced. I read the whole book for only a few hours without any backtracking. The general plot is very interesting. Julia came from a group of people who experienced genocide. Their number is small and nearing extinction. Now, that’s a huge topic to explore, given with all the issues in the world today. I was actually hoping the story to explore more of this perspective, rather than the love pursuits of the characters.  And speaking of characters, I like them. They need more depth, not just their life grievances. But yes, I do like them.

Overall, this is okay. It has plenty of potentials and hopefully, Ms. Weisenberg explores them all.

Book detail:

Title:  Select

Author:  Marit Weisenberg

Publication:  October 3rd, 2017 by Charlesbridge Teen

Genre:  YA Fiction

Rating: ★★★

Book #2: Select Few

*Thanks to Charlesbridge Teen and Netgalley for the copy.

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Book Review | THE REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY

BY KAZUO ISHIGURO | PUBLICATION: JANUARY 1, 2010
VINTAGE | GENRE: LITERARY FICTION
RATING: ★★★★

"A story of dignity, regret,
and the quiet ache of a life half-lived."

____________________________________________________________________

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.

____________________________________________________________________

"The Things Left Unsaid: Writing to Mr. Stevens"


Dearest James,

I know an introduction is customary — polite, even — but in this case, I suggest we dispense with it. It is you who matters, and no one else.

First, how did the end of your motoring trip fare? Was the return pleasant? I hope none of the inconveniences that plagued your departure followed you home. Mr. Farraday was right to suggest the journey; you had been cooped up in that great hall far too long. A change of scenery did you good. In the span of a single week, you seemed to grow — not outwardly, perhaps, but inwardly, where it counts.

I read your travelogue and musings with great interest. It is difficult not to be taken by them. Still, I noticed how often you answer your own questions. I suspect these are not signs of confusion but of hesitation — a reluctance to acknowledge truths long waiting at the edges of your mind. Hesitation and advancing age make uneasy companions, don’t they?

Your thoughts return again and again to greatness and dignity. It is clear you seek justification. And yes, James, you are a great and dignified butler. But does that absolve the mistakes you’ve made? Of course not, old chap. Your dignity lies in your unwavering professionalism, even in trying times — always the embodiment of restraint, calm, and placid composure. Yet in pursuing greatness, in holding fast to duty at the expense of feeling, you have forfeited something vital: relationships. Greatness and dignity fade, as your father’s did. Great butlers come and go. But a good friend, a loving husband, a present father — these are cherished for all time.

Oh, James. If only you had taken the leap…

But regret is a poor dwelling place. It has occupied your thoughts for far too many years already. Bless Miss Kenton for choosing a different path — even if partly to spite you — but fate has spoken. She is happily married now. She said all is well, did she not? Then move on, for her sake as much as your own. As for Lord Darlington, his folly is his alone. It is not yours to suffer. Loyalty is not measured by how much you endure, but by how well you serve. You know this now. Let the matter rest. Correcting the past is miserable business.

The man at the pier was right: nothing fruitful comes from dwelling too long on what cannot be changed. The day is not yet over. There is still much to be gained. Work on your bantering, as you resolved. Let humor lighten your steps. Women do enjoy a man with a bit of wit — but more importantly, humor may help you feel younger.

Farewell, James. Bless you on this new endeavor. Do send word of your progress, if you can.


Yours,
Louize

*Originally posted here.

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About the Author:

KAZUO ISHIGURO was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and moved to Britain at the age of five. His works of fiction have earned him many honours around the world, including the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Booker Prize. His books have been translated into over fifty languages and The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go were both made into acclaimed films. He received a knighthood in 2018 for Services to Literature. He also holds the decorations of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from Japan. His most recent novel, Klara and the Sun was a number one Sunday Times bestseller in both hardback and paperback. Ishiguro also works occasionally as a screenwriter. His screenplay for the 2022 film Living received Academy Award (Oscar) and BAFTA nominations. Cinema adaptations of Klara and the Sun and A Pale View of Hills are due for release in 2025. Photo by Andrew Testa

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