Moving On

I finished reading Amirrezvani's, The Blood of Flowers, and I have to admit, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Like I said yesterday, it took me a few pages to get into it, but once I did, I could hardly put it down. The ending wasn't what I had hoped for, but it was still good.

I'm not sure what I will read next... My to-read stack is growing with each trip to the bookstore or visit to Amazon.com. I am looking for something light and quick. The Old Testament and The Blood of Flowers were both heavy reads, and I need a change of pace. I think I'll go with one I picked up off the freebie shelf outside the library. It's called, The Ladies Auxiliary, and it is written by Tova Mirvis.

Let's see what Amazon has to say about it...

"The world of this confident, insightful debut novel is the tightly knit Orthodox Jewish community of Memphis, Tenn., a social structure that unravels when an unconventional New York convert settles there with her five-year-old daughter. Newly widowed Batsheva Jacobs is both shockingly modern and fervently spiritual. She lovingly raises her daughter, Ayala, in the Orthodox tradition, but she sings loudly and enthusiastically at shul (perhaps a sign of unseemly ego), visits the mikvah to cleanse herself (an act that raises eyebrows, since she has no husband), and she wears flowing clothes that show her figure. All of which is noted suspiciously by the local women whose common goal is to preserve tradition. In Memphis, where Shabbos dinner includes fried chicken and black-eyed peas, that task isn't easy. ..."

In case you are wondering, I am still on track to meet my goal of 101 books in 1001 days. With approximately 29 months to go and 89 books to read, I need to read just over 3 books a month to stay on track. And on that note, I am going to say goodnight and retire to bed with my new book to get started...

Slow and Steady

It took about 12 pages of reading, but I finally started to get into The Blood of Flowers. Now I'm on a roll and halfway through it. I don't really have much of an opinion yet to write about, so here's a review from Amazon...

From Publishers Weekly: In Iranian-American Amirrezvani's lushly orchestrated debut, a comet signals misfortune to the remote 17th-century Persian village where the nameless narrator lives modestly but happily with her parents, both of whom expect to see the 14-year-old married within the year. Her fascination with rug making is a pastime they indulge only for the interim, but her father's untimely death prompts the girl to travel with her mother to the city of Isfahan, where the two live as servants in the opulent home of an uncle—a wealthy rug maker to the Shah. The only marriage proposal now in the offing is a three-month renewable contract with the son of a horse trader. Teetering on poverty and shame, the girl weaves fantasies for her temporary husband's pleasure and exchanges tales with her beleaguered mother until, having mastered the art of making and selling carpets under her uncle's tutelage, she undertakes to free her mother and herself.

A few more unexpected reads

Finished #10 and #11... After months and months, I read all 1000+ pages of the Old Testament. I am going to take a little Scripture break so that I can focus on preparing my upcoming Sunday school lessons and Catechist formation class. I do plan on returning to the Bible and finishing the New Testament soon though... I also read Ireland for Dummies in preparation for our upcoming trip to Ireland. I haven't really gotten into the Blood of Flowers yet, but I've been busy and kind of distracted. I'll have to give it another try tonight before bed. Anyway, just wanted to update. I know it's been a while, but our internet is still down at home, so it is hard to find time to blog. I'll try to write (and read) more... Madd