The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

My Rating: 3.5

This is told through a parable and conveys learnings like not resisting what comes your way.

This is a mixture of Zen and Taoist with a healthy dose of humor thrown in. It is a self-help book told as a novel.  Two complaints I have heard is that it has mystical realism (or magic) and that it is very drawn out and you have to slog through parts. I feel there are definitely books with better writing but, it is all about what resonates with you to help you understand the concepts.

Bookmarks Magazine March/April 2019

I haven't had a chance to truly devour this magazine but here the initial books that jumped out of me that I have put in my queue:

      


    

I don't know exactly why but this one really intrigued me!



Do you have any great books you are reading - please share! If you get Bookmarks, let me know any picks I missed.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

My Rating: 4.8

This is a re-telling of the Iliad is from the persepctive of a woman, Briseis and covers the final days of the 10 year long Trojan War, After Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior, conquers Troy’s neighboring kingdom, he takes Briseis for his concubine.

The Illiad has Achilles as a hero but, this re-telling shows the perspective from a very different angle. Before you write this off as some "Greek mythology book" that wouldn't appeal to you, I urge you to give a try. I thoroughly enjoyed this well written book with it's spectacular writing.

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

My Rating: 4.8

What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity?

This book is not for everyone. It is about enlightenment and some reviewers felt that it is very preachy. I like the first portion of this book that deals with becoming aware of your inner voice much better than the rest of the book. There are many statements that are made as fact ("the analytical mind can not handle the infinite" - really? I guess no one told John Wallis this!) which becomes very annoying. Combine this with the latter part of the book being very repetitive. If you can get past this and that it can feel "woo woo" it is a great concept of: you are not your thoughts and not allowing your thoughts to control you.

My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

My Rating: 4.4

Twin sisters, Korede and Ayoola. Korede is a nurse and is always there for Ayoola who is stunningly beautiful and has a habit of killing her boyfriends. Korede sides with her sister as she is family. It is only when her sister starts dating a doctor at the hospital that Korede has a crush on that she considers turning in her sister for the protection of the men in Nigeria.

I loved the Nigerian voice of this book and capturing so many colloquialisms. I don't know what I was expecting from the ending but felt disappointed. All in all, a quick delightful read. 

The Au Pair by Emma Rous

My Rating: 4.5

Twins Seraphine and Danny were born at their family’s estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle. Now an adult, Serphine comes across a photograph of her parents, their older son Edwin and only one baby. Why weren't both twins in the picture? Which one of them is it in the picture? Seraphine starts digging to find answers and unravels some unexpected answers.

I enjoyed this quite a lot. The author led us down a certain storyline and I definitely thought I had it all figured out but there were a lot of twists at the end so I enjoyed having it unfold. 

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

My Rating: 3.0

Washington Black is an eleven-year-old field slave who knows no other life than the Barbados sugar plantation where he was born. When his master's eccentric brother "Titch" chooses him to be his manservant, Wash is terrified of the cruelties he is certain await him. Titch is a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor, and abolitionist and opens Wash's eyes to many things Wash had never thought of.

I wanted to love this book as the first 1/3rd of the book storyline pulled me in and had me eagerly reading on for more. Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn't deliver. It was long, meandering and had bizarre contrived story lines. Sad, as it had great promise.

Bookmarks Magazine Jan/Feb

Life has been crazy busy so this post is later than usual.  This edition of Bookmarks Magazine is packed full of great picks

They had a whole feature on Sebastian Faulks who, I am embarrassed to admit, I am not familiar with so, I went on Goodreads and picked out his highest rated book and got it out of the library:


I skipped over the feature on Liane Moriarty as I have found her books to be moderate, at best.

From their highlighted new books, here is what I put into my queue:

  

I am currently reading (probably from a previous Bookmarks recommendation):


Another one that was new to me:

I skipped over Haruki Murakami as I just haven't connected with his books in the past.Then I found a few more that were new to me:

     

I already had Tana French's latest on my library hold list:

This young adult novel sounded intriguing to me so I added it to my queue:


I am sure like all Bookmark's Magazines I will glean more from it in future but I felt like this was a great edition. Let me know any books you added that I may have missed! xoxo