Lilia Beta

Growing up, the library was probably my favorite place, as I was a complete bookworm. During high school and college, I basically stopped reading for fun except for the few books I managed finish while commuting on BART.

Perhaps I have reverted to a childlike state, and have resumed my bookworm ways! I choose book to read more or less by randomly picking them off the shelf... this has lead to some incredible finds as well as books that are probably a waste of my time. Anyways, here are two books that I've read this past month that were delightful surprises (I have never heard of the author or the book) :

The Nightingale by Morgana Gallaway

A very surprising find, especially since this is Gallaway's first book. And that she is an English lady writing about a modern Iraqi girl. Leila al-Ghani aspires to become a doctor in post-Hussein Iraq, and begins to work at a hospital at an American military base. Even though the book is still fiction, it's still an incredible story ( a bildungsroman, if you will) of a girl trying to make sense of family, tradition, ambition, and wartime atrocities. Although some westerners' biases are obvious ( simple example : Leila, Fatima, as names... really?) I think Gallaway has still done a great job.

Who's Afraid of Beowulf by Tom Holt

I should probably be a little ashamed I don't know who Tom Holt is ( or didn't pay attention), but this book has made up for that! This book was published in 1988 (when I was one!) when Holt was only 27. It is the hilarious and delightful story anthropologist Hildy Frederiksen, who discovers a Viking burial ship- along with 12 Viking heroes awake and ready to save the world again. Funny, and a short read as well :) .

Some books I've read this month that I've also enjoyed:

Persepolis / Persepolis II by Marjane Satrapi (Satrapi's memoirs of growing up in Iran- in comic book form. If you haven't read these, you must.)
In Your Dreams by Tom Holt (Seriously, Tom Holt is now one of my favorite authors)
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides (So well written I keep thinking its a memoir instead of a novel. Also a Pulitzer Prize winner)

Some books I've read this month that I did not enjoy:

Madeline is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynam (maybe I just don't like postmodern stuff :(. I feel like authors have more fun writing this than I did reading it)
Moving Lila by Julie Fleming (Meh)
The Changling of Finnistuath by Kate Horsley (Slow, a bit disappointing)


Enjoy reading :)

Lilia