I've been in kind of a reading slump for since beginning of March thanks to one (really good) junkster that took quite a few days to read, some not so succesful attempts on novels and non-fiction that ended up not being as good and/or interesting as I had hoped for, and for being generally busy with work and dancing. During Easter I actually spent a few lovely days in Sitges, Spain (near Barcelona) where we participated in two dance competitions. It was strictly a competition trip, so I only saw Barcelona from the plane window and the lights of the city from afar on our way to Sitges & my only shopping was done at the airport on my way home! :) But it was wonderful. Everything was very well organised, we did well in the competitions, food was great, weather was nice. :)
But, back to books... My wrap-up for March is long overdue and quite short, but here comes:
Books read:6
Books read in English:3
Books read in Finnish: 3
Books by Finnish writers read: 0
Fiction:6 of which 2 GN
Nonfiction: 0
Books reviewed: 3 (the third review is below)
List of books read in March with links to my reviews:
-Grenville, Kate: The Lieutenant (see the review below)
-Marani, Diego: Viimeinen vostjakki
-Molina, Antonio Muñoz: Sefarad
-Satrapi, Marjane: Pistoja (Embroideries)
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville was my Australia read for the Reading the World Challenge. I had wanted to read something by Grenville for a long time and had also thought to start with The Lieutenant. Now I finally did read the book.
The Lieutenant tells about a young British navy officer and astronomer Daniel Rooke, who is among those reaching Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet. In New South Wales Rooke separates himself from his comrades, setting up his observatory on a secluded hill. On his own he succeeds in what the other settlers fail: he befriends a group of aboriginals, especially a young girl named Tagaran, and tries to learn their language and to really understand them. Unfortunately there is no happy ending for his attempts for understanding and peaceful co-existance. Something happens that causes the governor to send a group of soldiers, Rooke among them, on an expedition to punish the aboriginals. Rooke manages to warn Tagaran, but after the expedition he himself must make some hard choices.
I liked Grenville's writing, and I especially liked the refreshing view of the friendship between Rooke and Tagaran. The novel is a work of fiction, but it's based on the diaries of navy officer William Dawes. If only there had been more men like Rooke/Dawes! I will definitely read more Grenville in the future.
My North America read for the Reading the World Challenge was Happenstance by Carol Shields. Shields draws an interesting picture of an American marriage in 1978 telling the story first from tha point of view of the husband then changing to the point of view of the wife. Jack and Brenda Bowman are a happily married fortysomething couple with two children who have never really been apart until Brenda, a quiltmaker, now travels to Philadelphia for an arts and crafts conference. During the following days both Jack and Brenda and their marriage face some unexpected trials and tribulations.
I had read Unless by Shields some years ago, so this was my second Shields novel. I love her eye for detail. I actually read this book for a book club meeting and what was really interesting was that all the participients that were about my age liked the book a lot, but those that were older, those who had actually been in their forties in the 1970-80 thought the book was too ordinary and too full of petty little details. It was clearly a generation thing!
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