from Agatha

"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."

~ Agatha Christie ~ 

word of the day :: popinjay

popinjay:

[pop-in-jey]

–noun

1.  a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect: a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic: the figure of a parrot, usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic: a parrot.

  

Origin:

1275–1325;  ME papejay, popingay, papinjai ( e ) < MF papegai, papingay  parrot < Sp papagayo  < Ar bab ( ba ) ghā'

"A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl. "

:: Ernest Hemingway ::

* Definition from www.dictionary.com

from Chuck

"A good story should make you laugh, and a moment later break your heart."

~ Chuck Palahniuk ~

currently reading :: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini 

The Kite Runner has been on my to-read list for a long time. I have heard some great things about this book. In particular, I wanted to sure I read it before I see the movie version. One of my friends from college recently started a book club on facebook and invited me to join. The Kite Runner is our selected book for the month of August--what great timing!

Summary: The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. 

(Summary from www.amazon.com)

review :: The Enchantress of Florence

The Enchantress of Florence

Salman Rushdie

This was a surprisingly slow read for me. I did not love this book, nor did I hate it. It was okay. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had started reading the book in a different setting and mindset. When I started The Enchantress of Florence, it was on a long plane ride home to San Diego, and I was tired. I read too much too fast. In the end, I had a difficult time keeping track of the characters, events, and time lines.

Rushdie has an interesting writing style--he writes to divert, but the reader cannot simply sit back, read, and be diverted. The reader must be present and fully engaged. Full of fantasy, myth, and magic, The Enchantress of Florence is a lovely story, and intricately woven.

The intersection of cultures of the East and West in the 16th century made for a great historical backdrop, and the book was full of historical characters: Niccolò Machiavelli, the great Medici dynasty, even Vlad Dracula made an appearance! However, I did not find myself drawn in to the settings like I hoped. 

Overall, I found the story imaginative and clever, intriguing enough for me to read more of Rushdie, although not as good as I anticipated.