It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week.

My comments are not meant to be recaps of the story lines as I include a link to Goodreads for their synopsis of the book. I am merely stating how I felt about the book without giving any spoilers.

We are currently in Mazatlan Mexico so I tend to read two books at a time, a "soft" one on my e-reader and then a "hard" book when lying in the sun.

I've had a good reading week!

FINISHED:

Synopsis here.

I appreciated the amount of detail and background provided on a period of history that hasn't had a lot written about, that post-war settlement of the Allies in Germany. I also enjoyed hearing it from a soldier's wife's point of view, even if I though I never felt any connection to her or any other character. 

The story was difficult to follow, at time s I had to go back a few pages to figure out what happened.

In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want--husband, country home, successful career--but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

My sister had given me this book when she was clearing out months ago. I grabbed it to read on the plane to Mexico as I get annoyed by flight attendants telling me I have to turn off my e-reader during take-off and landing. Of course on this Alaska Air flight they didn't, simply asked that you put it on airplane mode.

I didn't expect to like it, it had never appealed to me. I did finish it by the pool, however, did wish I had a blank cover for it so no one would see what I was reading.

She is a silly vain woman totally unaware of how privileged her life is compared to many women.

Favourite quote:

“A mini-cab later and he arrived in Stockwell, where the pit bulls travelled in twos. Ludlow Road is near the tube station, a short mugging away.”

Good quick read.

Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense. It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.

And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.

I really enjoyed this, an intertwining of facts and fiction. It makes me want to read more of the Mormon history. I am fascinated by polygamy and must admit to watching The Sister Wives to get an insight (I know, I know, it's reality TV). The fact that it is illegal and yet so many continue the practice. I don't understand why any woman would want to live this lifestyle.

This book does a great job on describing how horrible a life it is for most of these women.

STARTED:

Inspector Luc Vanier is drinking his way through Christmas Eve when he is called out to investigate the murder of five homeless people. His investigation takes hin into the backrooms of the Catholic Church, the boardrooms of Montreal's business elite and the soup kitchens and back alleys of street life in winter.