I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

…

“You can kill a man with those words.
No gun. 
No bullets. 
Just words and a girl.” 
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?

I found it really hard to make my mind up on my final opinion of this book. Part of me thinks I should wait a couple of days before trying to write this review, but I don't have enough time to ponder too long, and I'm keen to move on to my next book…

I really liked the characters and the overall theme of the book. 

It was an interesting idea, being delivered mystery cards that help out strangers, but I found a few of them a bit too wishy washy - the message wasn't that clear and I expected something more from the outcome. The characters felt ''gritty' but I found that a nice change from the sparkly heroes in other thrillers, it made them feel a bit more real life.

I think the two areas where I come unstuck is the flow of the writing, and the ending. I can't put my finger on it, but something just didn't work for me and when I finished it, I just felt a little underwhelmed. The writing is very lyrical, so maybe I'm missing something as nearly every other reviewer has raved about it, but the final 2 sentences just really annoyed me.

Overall, I'm glad I read it - I have a feeling it will be one of those books that linger in the back of my mind for a little while while I keep trying to figure out how I feel about it. It's a smallish book, it only took me a few days to read, so if you aren't happy with it then at least you wouldn't have wasted too much time on it anyway.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

“Did anyone really know their child? Your child was a little stranger, constantly changing, disappearing and reintroducing himself to you. New personality traits could appear overnight.” 

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

I don't know why, but I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book, despite having a number of friends recommend it, and the great rating on Goodreads. I think the way it jumped to the internee comments at the beginning of each chapter initially confused me too much.

But within a few chapters I was addicted! So much so that I finished the entire book in 3 days!

The characters were charming and funny (especially Madeline and her feisty comments!), and although it touched on some serious topics like domestic violence, bullying and assault, it was written in such a light-hearted way it was hard not to smile sometimes.

It does give you a good reminder though, that you should never judge a book by it's cover...

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

“The thing about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, the thing that was so profound to me that summer—and yet also, like most things, so very simple—was how few choices I had and how often I had to do the thing I least wanted to do. How there was no escape or denial. No numbing it down with a martini or covering it up with a roll in the hay. As I clung to the chaparral that day, attempting to patch up my bleeding finger, terrified by every sound that the bull was coming back, I considered my options. There were only two and they were essentially the same. I could go back in the direction I had come from, or I could go forward in the direction I intended to go.” 

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.
Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wildpowerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her. 

I love travel books - hearing about new places I've never been to, remembering places I have already seen, sharing experiences with others during their travels. 

Before I started reading this book, I thought it would be a pretty standard travel book, someone visits somewhere and writes about what they saw, who they met, and a little complication they have to overcome, such as a lost passport or a tropical illness etc. I guess in essence this book does cover those things, but what surprised me was that there is a deeper story that makes it much more compelling to read. 

Straight away the prologue lets you know exactly what it's all about. It finished in such an uplifting and mysterious was that I was hooked straight away, and I couldn't  wait to hear more about her story - how she ended up hiking the PCT, things that happened while she was there, and what happened after.

Another thing that surprised me, was hearing her describe her Mum's battle and loss to cancer. I've heard people talk about themselves or a loved one getting sick and then either surviving or dying, but I am lucky to be quite naive about what happens in between the diagnosis and end result, so this was the first time I had actually ever heard or thought about it too much. Strayed spoke about the effects of her Mum's cancer treatment (on both her Mum physically, and for herself emotionally) in detail but still respectfully, so you could tell she really loved her Mother very much.

By the end of this book I was ready to go on an adventure myself, or at least think about what kind of 'great achievement' I could do in the future! 

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.