Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

“Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities, but the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.”

…

“If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.” 

Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

The things I liked most about this book was 1) It gave me a view into the lives of those in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and 2) I got to read about someone who was so dedicated to helping the women and communities that the rest of the world didn't think about.

It sounds like a massive task that Mortenson had taken on, and good on him for doing it (although his wife must be an absolute saint, because I can't imagine me being so understanding about my husband leaving me alone with 2 children for so long!)

There were a few slow parts in this book, but it was worth pushing through them to the end - although there is definitely a big blank at the end where a second book could continue on with the next stages of his work.

I wish the Central Asia Institute all the nest with their work and hope they continue on helping educate women for many years to come.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

For me, this book was very unpredictable - it moved so fast I didn't even really have time to guess what was going to happen, and I loved that it kept it's momentum right to the very last page.

The ending was very ambiguous (particularly the very last paragraph!) which leaves me to think 1) this might have been done deliberately to leave room for a sequel???! or 2) just goes to show that Amy's and her scheming, manipulative, overactive mind hasn't changed at all. I loved that it was left with a big question mark at the end to keep you thinking, rather than tying everything up with a neat little bow. 

I can't wait to go see the movie now to see how it plays out on screen.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

“You will be fine,' the fortune teller says. 'There may be decisions to make and surprises in store. Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that.” 

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

Firstly I need to say that I found the blurb for this book really deceiving -  I have passed over reading it in favour of another book so many times because I didn't think it sounded intriguing or 'deep' enough. Finally I gave in due to how many positive reviews it had received and once I started I couldn't put it down! I am in awe of the writer for having such an amazing and creative imagination!

It does start of slow though - for the first 40% it is a really nice story and then before you know it, it builds momentum and unfurls like a magical Alice in Wonderland, and you are stuck within the story whether you like it or not. I could sit down meaning to only read "a chapter or two", and look up hours later feeling like I have spent the afternoon walking around the circus myself.

On reflection, one of the things I liked about this book is that it is very much a love story, without being a story 'just about love'. For the first half of the book there really is no romance at all, and when it does come, it isn't in that thick sickly way that most writers smear on, which to me made it feel more genuine and real. The story is a much about the circus, other performers and the competition, as it is about their love for one another.

The best way to describe this style of book would be whimsical and dreamy, and I think it would best suit readers who love books/movies such as Big Fish, Life of Pi and Walter Mitty (i.e. those with the ability to believe in something magical rather than the practical)

Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman

Seven Types of Ambiguity is a psychological thriller and a literary adventure of breathtaking scope. Celebrated as a novelist in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen and Philip Roth, Elliot Perlman writes of impulse and paralysis, empty marriages, lovers, gambling, and the stock market; of adult children and their parents; of poetry and prostitution, psychiatry and the law. Comic, poetic, and full of satiric insight, Seven Types of Ambiguity is, above all, a deeply romantic novel that speaks with unforgettable force about the redemptive power of love.

The story is told in seven parts, by six different narrators, whose lives are entangled in unexpected ways. Following years of unrequited love, an out-of-work schoolteacher decides to take matters into his own hands, triggering a chain of events that neither he nor his psychiatrist could have anticipated. Brimming with emotional, intellectual, and moral dilemmas, this novel-reminiscent of the richest fiction of the nineteenth century in its labyrinthine complexity-unfolds at a rapid-fire pace to reveal the full extent to which these people have been affected by one another and by the insecure and uncertain times in which they live. Our times, now.

I don't often read novels this long - in fact I usually deliberately and stay away from them because I get so time-poor, but I'm glad I persevered with this one.

It is a very intelligently written story, yet I never felt that I was unable to keep up with it.

I loved the characters and how their stories were woven together, and I didn't see the twists at the end coming which is refreshing.

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs by Tyler Hamilton & Daniel Coyle

“I discovered when I went all out, when I put 100 percent of my energy into some intense, impossible task - when my heart was jack-hammering, when lactic acid was sizzling through my muscles - that's when I felt good, normal, balanced.” 

The Secret Race is a definitive look at the world of professional cycling—and the doping issue surrounding this sport and its most iconic rider, Lance Armstrong—by former Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton andNew York Times bestselling author Daniel Coyle.

Over the course of two years, Coyle conducted more than two hundred hours of interviews with Hamilton and spoke candidly with numerous teammates, rivals, and friends. The result is an explosive book that takes us, for the first time, deep inside a shadowy, fascinating, and surreal world of unscrupulous doctors, anything-goes team directors, and athletes so relentlessly driven to succeed that they would do anything—and take any risk, physical, mental, or moral—to gain the edge they need to win.

Tyler Hamilton was once one of the world’s best-liked and top-ranked cyclists—a fierce competitor renowned among his peers for his uncanny endurance and epic tolerance for pain. In the 2003 Tour de France, he finished fourth despite breaking his collarbone in the early stages—and grinding eleven of his teeth down to the nerves along the way. He started his career with the U.S. Postal Service team in the 1990s and quickly rose to become Lance Armstrong’s most trusted lieutenant, and a member of his inner circle. For the first three of Armstrong’s record seven Tour de France victories, Hamilton was by Armstrong’s side, clearing his way. But just weeks after Hamilton reached his own personal pinnacle—winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics—his career came to a sudden, ignominious end: He was found guilty of doping and exiled from the sport.

From the exhilaration of his early, naïve days in the peloton, Hamilton chronicles his ascent to the uppermost reaches of this unforgiving sport. In the mid-1990s, the advent of a powerful new blood-boosting drug called EPO reshaped the world of cycling, and a relentless, win-at-any-cost ethos took root. Its psychological toll would drive many of the sport’s top performers to substance abuse, depression, even suicide. For the first time ever, Hamilton recounts his own battle with clinical depression, speaks frankly about the agonizing choices that go along with the decision to compete at a world-class level, and tells the story of his complicated relationship with Lance Armstrong.

A journey into the heart of a never-before-seen world, The Secret Race is a riveting, courageous act of witness from a man who is as determined to reveal the hard truth about his sport as he once was to win the Tour de France.

I don't think I have ever read a sports biography before, or even follow/watch that much sport to be honest, so this book was something totally different for me to read, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Before starting this book I didn't really know too much about professional cycling - I had no idea it was such a team sport, that there were strategies to attack etc, I didn't have a clue what the different coloured jumpers meant in the Tour de France, and I definitely didn't realise how naive I was when it came to doping in professional sports!

I found this novel very enlightening. Not just about the sport itself (I did learn a lot but it was so well written that I never once got bored or lost in the sports jargon - it felt like it was written for both those that understood the sport or had no knowledge at all), but prior to reading this book I would definitely have judged an athlete (in any sport) for taking performance enhancing drugs, and while I still don't think it is the right thing to do, reading this book made me realise how hard it would have been to say no to it in that environment, and I found it very interesting how they justified it to themselves (if everyone is doing it, then it just makes it an even playing field).

This book came across genuine, and I still think Tyler Hamilton sounds like a good guy, and I am in awe of his strength and determination, as a cyclist and now speaking to against doping.

One things for sure though, I will never look at professional/competitive sports the same way again!

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

“What are you reading?”

That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less.

This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying. 

Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page. 

I only made it halfway through this book before I picked up something else.

While I really loved the idea of this storyline, and Schwalbe's writing style was engaging (his mother sounded like such a lovely lady with a fascinating life!) the main reason I stopped was that I wasn't familiar with many of the books they discussed, and they weren't books I would necessarily choose to read.

I haven't ruled out coming back to this book at a later stage, but there are a few other books i'd want to get through first.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

“Whoever coined the phrase 'a man's got to play the hand that was dealt him' was most certainly one piss-poor bluffer.” 

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

I always find memoirs interesting - I love hearing about how other people live and what situations they face, and through The Glass Castle I got to glimpse life in a way I have never seen it before. 

Jeannette told us of her upbringing through disjointed memories from her largely nomadic childhood, moving across many different landscapes in America.

It's hard enough to get your sh*t together when you grow up in a 'normal' household, so I can't even imagine much harder it actually was with a family like that -  it really shows their inner strength to come out so successful on the other side.

It was a quick book to get through and easy to read at a leisurely pace. Definitely insightful and after finishing it, it made me want to call my Mum and Dad to say thank you for everything they did for me growing up (and still today!)

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you've never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you've never seen them under an investigation like this.

Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

I really enjoyed this book! It was suspenseful and kept me guessing to the very end; the characters were engaging and life-like; and, for me, the story story flowed well with no boring or slow bits.

The only part where the book lost me was the very last couple of pages, I didn't get how the final poem fit in, obviously I was just missing something.

I haven't read the Casual Vacancy, but I didn't feel like I was reading a Harry Potter book at all - if I didn't know Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym I would never have known it was J.K Rowling.

Definitely worth reading if you are a fan of murder mystery stories. 

The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account of that year, Rubin carves out her place alongside the authors of bestselling memoirs such as Julie and Julia, The Year of Living Biblically, and Eat, Pray, Love. With humor and insight, she chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier.

Rubin didn't have the option to uproot herself, nor did she really want to; instead she focused on improving her life as it was. Each month she tackled a new set of resolutions: give proofs of love, ask for help, find more fun, keep a gratitude notebook, forget about results. She immersed herself in principles set forth by all manner of experts, from Epicurus to Thoreau to Oprah to Martin Seligman to the Dalai Lama to see what worked for her—and what didn't.

Her conclusions are sometimes surprising—she finds that money can buy happiness, when spent wisely; that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that "treating" yourself can make you feel worse; that venting bad feelings doesn't relieve them; that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference—and they range from the practical to the profound.

Written with charm and wit, The Happiness Project is illuminating yet entertaining, thought-provoking yet compulsively readable. Gretchen Rubin's passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire you to start your own happiness project.

I made the almost-fatal error of reading some other reviews before I started reading this book and I was a little wary going in to it, (I HATED Eat, Pray Love and have never felt the need to ready any other ‘self-help’ books before) so once I started and got hooked I was glad I didn’t let some of the really negative comments that I had read stop me.

Rubin is up-front from the beginning about her reasons as to why she felt the need to start a Happiness Project, and it’s something I can relate to – for me it I took it to be about becoming more grateful for what I have and appreciating the moment, rather than needing to overcome depression or a major trauma in my life, if this is what you are looking for then perhaps this isn’t the book for you as you might find it a little patronising or ‘self-absorbed’.

I found the idea interesting from the first page, and I liked Rubin’s approach – personally as someone who makes powerpoint presentations on upcoming holidays and detailed spreadsheets for everything, her list-making and Resolutions seemed like something I would be able to follow and easily stick to if I was ever going to initiate a Happiness Project of my own. Although I get that this isn’t going to work for everyone, so does Rubin, and she offers these as a guide to get you thinking about how you yourself would make it work for you and your own personality/situation.

It included LOTS of research and quotes throughout from various philosophers, psychologists and other authors. Some of the ideas in this book were really insightful and new, some so obvious it made me wonder why I’d never put too much thought in to it before, and others would plainly never work for me, again, its not a bible to follow but a tool to get you thinking about what makes you happy and how you can be more conscious to appreciate it in every day life when it is so easy to take for granted. I would have liked to see some reference links to some of the study results mentioned in here eg “having strong relationships lengthens your life more than stopping smoking”. 

I even learnt some new words from reading this book (eg I had no idea what a gewgaws was until now!), so you might need to keep a dictionary handy every now and then.

All in all its worth giving a go to see if this might be something that works for you – although there were no earth-shattering realisations for me after I finished reading it, it did definitely make me more aware of my communication with others and want to improve my overall attitude when daily life can sometimes make you blasé.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

“None of us ever know all the possible courses our lives could have and maybe should have taken. It's probably just as well. Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever. Just ask Pandora.” 

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

This book would be a good holiday read - it was an easy lighthearted read with nothing too heavy or complicated going on, but just enough romance, mystery and drama too keep you wanting to read more.

It had three main female characters that had different stories which were pretty easy to follow, but I didn't guess the twist ending and how all the stories intertwined until the end of the book.

You will enjoy this book if you are a fan of chick-lit such as Sophie Kinsella, but not quite up to the quality of Jojo Moyes or Jodi Picoult.

Six Years by Harlan Coben

… “Amazing what we can self-rationalize when we really want something” 

Six years have passed since Jake Sanders watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven't come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd's obituary, he can't keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd's wife he's hoping for . . . but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she's been married to Todd for more than a decade, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life - a time he has never gotten over - is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can't be found or don't remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake's search for the woman who broke his heart - and who lied to him - soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on carefully constructed fiction.

“Part of the human condition is that we all think that we are uniquely complex while everyone else is somewhat simpler to read. That is not true, of course. We all have our own dreams and hopes and wants and lust and heartaches. We all have our own brand of crazy” 

WOW! … I still am suffering from a book-hangover from this book - I literally read it all in one day and am sitting here stunned still processing everything that happened.

What I liked most about this book was that even when I was 50% of the way through, I still hadn't figured out what the "big plot twist" was going to be. Usually with thriller style books, you can can form at least an idea around what the outcome is going to be, but with this book, I was left unsure and speculating right up until the very last pages. 

There was a lot going on in this storyline, with many different characters, but it was written with a great writing style so that it was never too confusing and I wasn't left behind with a plot that moved too fast. I found it easy to read and it left my biting my nails to the very end.

Some people might find the lasting-love-without-contact-for-six-years a little far-fetched, but it is written in such a way that it makes you believe it (and those doubters are obviously unlucky enough to have never experienced it themselves in the first place then…)

I don't remember if I have read other Harlan Coben books before, but after finishing Six Years he is definitely a writer that I will be seeking out more from.

Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl Autobiography #1) by Roald Dahl

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul and that I am sure is why he does it.” 

In Boy, Roald Dahl recounts his days as a child growing up in England. From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books. Packed with anecdotes -- some funny, some painful, all interesting -- this is a book that's sure to please.

This book was recommended to my by a good friend to read while I was on holidays, and I wasn't really sure what to expect when I started reading - I guess I thought it was going to be a story as to how Roald Dahl came up with the characters and stories he wrote that I grew up with. Instead I got to read about HIS fascinating early life growing up. And it honestly really is fascinating! You just don't get to experience life quite the way you got to back then - so many opportunities, and being a young child then is so different to what it is now.

Boy is easy to read and you get the gist that even early on Dahl had a wicked sense of humour. This autobiography has Dahl growing up with his family, going to boarding school, and you leave just as he gets his first job after school has finished. There are hints about his time in the war and overseas, but I know I will get the next book so I can find out all the details.