The Girl Booker

The Girl Booker

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Secret Lives of 101 Thieves

There are a few phrases that get a little overused in the book title area; I've used 3 of them in the title to this post, but the book I've just finished reading, The Porcelain Thief, only uses one. Not that I'm complaining; it was a really enjoyable read. I love a book that's part memoir, part travel adventure, part learning-about-something-new, and part delving-into-history.



The book is about an American born Chinese man's search for the china that his great-great-grandfather reputedly buried to keep safe from the invading Japanese army in the 1930s. It was packed with information but it never felt too dense or difficult, and it was easy to pick up mid-thread after putting down for a bit. I loved learning about China and also about china. And it made me want to go adventuring.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Fave Rave

I have about 3 or 4 favourite, living authors. Authors whose books I find so astoundingly wonderful that every 6 months or so, I do a search online to see if one of them has a new book coming out. One of those authors is Patricia Duncker. I think she's ace. And it turns out that she's just written another book!

Like all her work, this book has a great storyline, very believable characters, flowing sentences and big ideas stuffed into little crevices of the narrative. And when I come to think of it, that's really the hallmark of nearly every writer that I greatly admire. I loved it, of course, although I think I did slightly prefer her previous book (The Strange Case of the Composer and the Judge). Nevertheless, I am willing to give Sophie and the Sibyl a rating of 'Many Stars' out of 'A Few More Stars'.