Dearest Readers,
I felt immense pleasure and pain in compiling this weeks Top 5 Wednesday
Pleasure: because I get to talk about books I one day wish to own and consume XD
Pain: because I know it will be quite some time before I can acquire them *bawls*
Who can relate?
I’m pretty sure this topic is about to rip a hole in my heart tonight and in my pocket in the months to come! XD Yes I’ll be reading many of these memes tonight.
So here’s the five latest additions to my ever growing list of books I want to read and reasons why I picked them.
No Pretty Pictures, A Child of War by Anita Lobel
Anita Lobel was barely five years old when World War II began and the Nazis burst into her home in Kraków, Poland. Her life changed forever. She spent her childhood in hiding with her brother and their nanny, moving from countryside to ghetto to convent—where the Nazis finally caught up with them.
Since coming to the United States as a teenager, Anita has spent her life making pictures. She has never gone back. She has never looked back. Until now.
I confess, I love war stories. Yes they are dark and sad, filled with narratives of sacrifice and horror but they help me be thankful for all I have. And yes, I love Nazi war stories more so than others. Is that bad?
Tiddas by Anita Heiss
A story about what it means to be a friend …
Five women, best friends for decades, meet once a month to talk about books … and life, love and the jagged bits in between. Dissecting each other’s lives seems the most natural thing in the world – and honesty, no matter how brutal, is something they treasure. Best friends tell each other everything, don’t they? But each woman harbours a complex secret and one weekend, without warning, everything comes unstuck.
Izzy, soon to be the first Black woman with her own television show, has to make a decision that will change everything.
Veronica, recently divorced and dedicated to raising the best sons in the world, has forgotten who she is.
Xanthe, desperate for a baby, can think of nothing else, even at the expense of her marriage.
Nadine, so successful at writing other people’s stories, is determined to blot out her own.
Ellen, footloose by choice, begins to question all that she’s fought for.
When their circle begins to fracture and the old childhood ways don’t work anymore, is their sense of sistahood enough to keep it intact? How well do these tiddas really know each other?
I have a feeling this book will have a fragmented narrative. Women friendships bought together by books, especially between those of different cultures makes for an insightful read.
Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa
In the pent-up heat of Colombo, piece by piece, a family comes apart.
A country picking up the pieces, a family among the ruins. In the restless streets, crowded waiting rooms and glittering nightclubs of Colombo, five family members find their bonds stretched to breaking point in the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war. Latha wants a home. Anoushka wants an iPod. Mano hopes to win his wife back. Lakshmi dreams of rescuing a lost boy. And Niranjan needs big money so he can leave them all behind.
I’m willing to promote any Lankan lit hereforth on my blog. As soon as I came across this book, I knew I had to read it soon. The civil war in my country is long gone, but not forgotten. We are still healing from those wounds and lives are not yet fully normal. War or no war, human nature is more powerful. I want to see how Colombo, my city is portrayed and I think the story is not going to disappoint!
Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women
Romance, dating, sex and – Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be–from singles’ events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist.
For those of you who aren’t aware yet, I’m Sri Lankan, and yes, Muslim. I utterly dislike how literature treats Muslims, esp. how they are often portrayed in settings where there is war or some sort of fear , oppressed and seemingly without a life , whilst the majority of us have fears very like most of the ‘normal’ people out there. I know this is a very out there thing to say, but I really want to read books where Muslims, esp. Muslim women are not fit in to the ‘Other’ category. This one discusses struggle we really face, myself too and I’d very much like to see what they have to say. I hope it doesn’t disappoint. I expect a lot from it. (Sadly like my ideas of love lol, idealist INFP talking here. XD) ~Inshallah here menas If God Wills~
Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now–As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It by Craig Taylor
In Londoners, acclaimed journalist Craig Taylor paints readers an epic portrait of today’s London that is as rich and lively as the city itself. In the style of Studs Terkel (Working, Hard Times, The Good War) and Dave Isay (Listening Is an Act of Love), Londoners offers up the stories, the gripes, the memories, and the dreams of those in the great and vibrant British metropolis who “love it, hate it, live it, left it, and long for it,” from a West End rickshaw driver to a Soldier of the Guard at Buckingham Palace to a recovering heroin addict seeing Big Ben for the very first time. Published just in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Londoners is a glorious literary celebration of one of the world’s truly great cities.
I ‘LOVE’ the UK. If you must know more about me, this is a fact that everyone who knows me knows, even to the little cousins. Everything about it. I’m a classic junkie, I study English literature for a degree and I will willingly wear gowns for the rest of my life though its not necessary, and yes I love a good dose of London during the holidays. Does this qualify me enough to want to read this book?
Thats only 5 of them sadly, the list goes on >_< and there’s so many exciting titles I wish I could share with you! Maybe I’ll make that a segment on the blog… Should I??
So tell me if you’ve read any of the above. Or maybe leave me with the title of the last book you added to your TBR, yes that’s a good idea 🙂
Until next time
Cinderzena's Book Blog 
I have also added Love, InshaAllah like yesterday! It sounds really great.
Have you read Reclaim Your Heart?
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I have heard SO much about Reclaim your heart, and read so many excerpts, I only need to buy it! have you?
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