Irum's book blog

Enjoying "And the Mountains Echoed"

Reblogged from May's Books:

Recently just bought "Norweigan Wood" , "The Bell Jar" and "My Cousin Rachael". Can't wait to read them all!

Used from Lindsay Cummings Instagram. She is the Author of The Murder Complex.

When I first ordered "Kartography" By Kamila Shamsie, I expected a gut-wrenching romance set amongst the would-be capital of Pakistan, Karachi. Whilst I got the latter, I can't really call this book a romance novel at all. This book is purely a tale of friendship with a sprinkle of drama and a hint of Pakistani culture thrown in here and there. I wouldn't recommend it at all because it was a slightly boring read and would have been even worse if it wasn't written as well as it was. Disappointed only begins to describe how I felt towards this novel. If I wasn't Pakistani and a hopeless romantic I would have abandoned this book long before the end, instead I clung on hoping for love to flourish in the plotline. I'd recommend this book if you're looking for an easy read with lovely description and not too much drama, but who on earth wants JUST that from a book? Little drama, no romance and certainly a thin plotline, this is one of the least poignant books I've ever read.

"Kartography" By Kamila Shamsie

Can't wait for it to arrive!

Valentine's Day is coming and we're in love spirit this week, however, we've decided to choose unusual and twisted couples. What are your literary love couples picks for Valentine's Week? Sweet or crazy ones?

R and Julie

He's cold and dead. She's alive and hot. He's zombie, she's human. He's hungry but decides not to eat her. How this will end?

Edward Lorn: The writing is crisp and fresh. Marion's gift for storytelling is remarkable, the way he can describe the smallest things with brilliant metaphors and similes. One of my favorite examples is something I shared here on Booklikes while I was reading the book: "Her hair is a natural disaster, post-hurricane palm trees." That ten-word sentence tells you so much in the context of the scene click to continue

There's more to life than reading, but it's a good place to start: It was a short and sweet read of what makes us human and the transformative power of love click to continue

A Reciprocal Love Affair With Books: What a massive responsibility, being a moral creature. That one line seems to sum up the novel click to continue

Heathcliff and Catherine

Their relationship is intense, full of dark obsessions and destructive emotions. If real love means hurting each other day and night, those two reached level master.

The Boat Was My Friend: Wuthering Heights represents a massively important landmark in literature for a reason: It is overwhelming. I literally can't think of any tale of love that is as wild, as intense and as diabolic as the story of Catherine and Heathcliff click to continue

Eccentric Musings: This novel is such an accomplishment. Emily Brontë, you ROCK click to continue

Nostalgia Reader: As someone who probably likes dark and dreary reads more than they should, I was fascinated by the characters and their hopeless stories, as well as the setting and general culture of the novel click to continue

Jamie and Cersei Lannister

Telling the truth George RR Martin's world is full of crazy couples but this one... oh my! Those twins are evil, spoiled rotten, cruel and much in love. And they will kill anyone who wants to reveal their secret.

BTW I like books: It took me quite a bit to get through this. Not only because it's over 800 pages long, but also because there's only a certain amount of drama and intrigue I can take click to continue

Liz* ~ Procrastinator Extraordinaire: The complexity of the characters and their dynamic was incredible. Ugh, what can I say of this awesome characters? Just to name a few: Arya: Mother of God, this girl was a total badass click to continue

Owl Tell You About It: I’m so sick of accidentally finding out who dies in this series that I decided it was time to read it click to continue

   Lestat and Louis

 In one of interviews the author, Anne Rice, said it's OK to perceive Lestat and Louise as a same sex couple and Claudia as their daughter (read the interview). That's how the era of vampires started.

The World of Alice D.: While the sheer fantasy usually deals only with action and invest everything in one goal, to interest the reader, this novel cuts deep into the very nature of beings it  deals with and consider their complex thoughts and feelings click to continue

Raging Snarky Stormtrooper Pony: This is one of those modern classic vampire tales, one that I've been meaning to read ever since I got interested in vampires back with "Twilight" click to continue

Sharon L: Anne Rice has captivating writing style, it's just like reading a fairytale, a dark one click to continue

Bridget Jones and Daniel Cleaver

Bridget and Daniel are far from being a perfect couple. Their relationship is a total disaster, full of misunderstandings and unfulfilled hopes. 

Tina Sandevska: But girl, did I like that book! Although in a format of a very untypical diary, the book gives a very, veryrealistic idea of how women feel about themselves, their relationships click to continue

Ceridwen: What a perfectly brilliant snack of a book, but I don't mean that in a dissy, ironic, you're not really literature kind of way. Comedy is hard, maybe harder than drama click to continue

Katniss and Peeta

He lovers her, he loves her not.

She loves him, she loves him not.

True or false?

Cintia loves books: The writing is so simple and concrete but so well done that it doesn't matter if you're 15 or 25 years old, you'll be hooked from the beginning and, like me, you won't be able to drop the book and go to bed click to continue

BUGGY: Initially I had no idea what this book was about or what to expect in terms of YA writing, it had just been recommended to me by so many people and had such a buzz surrounding it that I had to find out for myself why click to continue

Angela @ Touch the Night: The relationships between Katniss and everyone around her was something I truly enjoyed. For all her rough edges, Katniss has a very big, soft heart and you could easily see that in her thoughts and conversations click to continue

Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler

She was a fire and he was a sparkle which heated her up. They were meant to be together but Scarlett needed a lot of time to realized that and in the meantime Rhett got tired of waiting. Well, who wouldn't?  She had it coming.

A Great Book Study: While I was reading the last chapter of Gone with the Wind, I could feel this lump welling up inside my throat, and my eyes became blurry with tears.  I did not want to believe this story was going to end this way click to continue

Crash My Book Party: This story of life, loss and love during the American Civil War was absolutely compelling reading, and I guess you could say I become a little obsessed with it! The heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, was flawed and far from perfect, but I think that is one of the reasons why I liked her click to continue

Book rêveur: I think there is actually no need to write about Mitchell`s masterpiece, because if you don`t know the story then were have you been all your life? click to continue

 Nick and Amy

Nick and Amy Dunne's difficult toxic marriage makes the book a real unforgettable page turner.

Lazy Reading Nook: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a thrilling story.  This would be a great comparison to The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn.  They both have great themes, and not predictable click to continue 

I'll think of a damn title later: Often I can guess a plot twist, and I did do that on this one, but even as a huge twist is revealed in the middle of the book, there are more coming. It's staggering, and the ending is so dark that I think Shirley Jackson would have grinned in delight at the sheer nihilism of it click to continue

Lanaia @ The Temporary Escape: Gone Girl is a really thrilling read and one of the best psychological mysteries I’ve ever read click to continue

Captain Ahab and Moby Dick   

Ouch, this human-animal relationship is mad! Captain is obsessed with a whale, and The Whale with the Captain. You can feel the drama in the air or in the water. 

AmySea: If you have to read Moby Dick, or choose to read Moby Dick, I would like to suggest that you listen to the audiobook version narrated by William Hootkins.  His narration of this book won the 2006 Audie Award for Solo Narration, and I know I'd have never finished this book if William Hootkins hadn't been reading it to me click to continue

Forrest Aguirre, in the Leaves: I really liked Moby Dick. It’s not nearly the daunting Leviathan that some led me to believe it was. Nor was it as boring as my little dalliances within its excerpts had initially indicated. No, actually, it was good. Really good click to continue

Kim Reads and Bakes: Melville wrote beautiful prose and created intensely memorable characters. Yet another is that the novel is a bit like life: sometimes there’s high drama and hustle and bustle, but there are lots of fairly dull bits in between click to continue

Dolores and Humbert Humbert

She's a twelve years old girlish girl and he's middle-aged literary scholar obsessed with young girls. Do we need to go further?

Cam★: This book left me at a loss of words, not because I don’t know what to say, but rather because entire phrases are amassing in my brain, asking me to be the first to be written and recorded on my review. Where should I start? With Lolita, it’s impossible to form rational, logical and organized thoughts click to continue

Pandamonium: This book, to me, read like it was more about words than anything. It showed how words can fool you as much as enchant you, at how they can hide stories as much as tell them click to continue

Michael's Book Babble: And man... what a story. It is by no means an easy read or story to take. The narrator of this tragic and doomed tale is indeed sick and perverse, yet Nabokov writes him as a real, living breathing person click to continue

Dreary and Naughty

He is the son of the Grim Reaper and she is the daughter of the Devil in high school for mortal children. School years are crazy enough without being a non-human creature, aren't they?

Merry Meerkat Marginalia: Very original. Loving the poetry and the black and white art is great too.   This is a great graphic novel. I wasn't positive about it at first but by the end I totally loved it.  It’s a cute love story click to continue

Are you in (book) love spirit this week? :)

A brutal tale of two unfortunate Afghani women in the midst of war, facing the hardships that the Taliban throw upon them, this novel is amazing. It's written with fluency and flair and is the perfect book for any budding feminist or womens' rights activist. The story follows two women, Mariam and Laila, and the devastating things they face due to war and family issues. The story begins with Mariam, a harami, illegitimate child, who lives with her mother whom she calls Nana. Her Father, Jalil visits her every now and then and she holds her breath between his visits in the hope of seeing him. Something devastating happens and Mariam's life is altered forever.

Meanwhile, later on in the book we meet Laila. An educated Afghani girl who has scholarly parents. Her Father tells her that right now is a great time to be a woman in Afghanistan and that she can do anything she puts her mind to. But again, something treacherous occurs that changes Laila's fate and brings her into the life of Mariam.

If you want to read a dramatic, gut-wrenching tale mixed with Farsi language and Afghani culture then this is most certainly the book for you. Khaled Hosseini writes this tale masterfully and with complete command of the novel. I wouldn't say it's as good as his first novel "The Kite Runner" but it comes a close second. Having said that, many people argue that "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is the better of the two novels, so I suppose it comes down to personal preference and taste. All I know is that I'd definitely recommend this novel to everyone I know.