Passing Time

It has been an unusual past few days.  Several of the stores have been closed and I have had limited access to the outside world (as I know it).  There is a strange calm in the air that has been very difficult to read. Are people tired of fighting?  Are they okay with a dissembled government?  Is civil war looming?  No one has a clue.  Stranger times in Nepal (if that is even possible).  

The upside is that I have finished a few smocking projects and have been reading some good books.  I must recommend a few (don't curse me if there is profanity or inappropriate parts to the story.  I easily forget and I skim.  I am good at skimming).

The one I am working on right now is Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors. It takes place during seventeenth-century Hindustan.  It follows a young princesses life who is the daughter of the emperor who built the Taj Mahal monument for his wife.   I wish there was more discussion of the building of the Taj, as I am still enamored by that building.  Life in India has always fascinated me and the Hindu/Islam relationship has always intrigued me.  So far, so good.

I finished Water for Elephants by Sara Guren several months back but it is definitely worth noting.  The book is rich and compelling and has a 'Big Fish' feel to it.  It takes place during the depression and it is about a young man who finds himself working in the circus.  The story has a sense of magic to it and there is enough grittiness to the story that it was hard to put down.  There is definitely naughtiness in the book, so beware.  I was a lot more forgiving cause it is the circus after all.

 

I just finished Sold by Particia McCormick.  It is a book you can read within a couple of hours.  The style of writing is more poetic than a novel, especially the beginning.  It is about a young mountain girl who lives in Nepal.  Unbeknownst her, her father sells her off to work as a 'maid' in India.  The story is compelling to me because you hear of these stories over and over again in this region.  It seems impossible for a girl to be so naive until you visit a village and meet the girls who live there.  It is a heartwrenching book, but I felt it was worth the read. 

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak is a book with a unique format.  It is narrated by Death (who incidentally has a very sarcastic and grim view of the world-surprise).  He follows a young girl in Nazi Germany.  I know there is an overdose of WWII stories out there and after a while the stories seem to become stale, but this story is worth reading.  There are enough twists, turns, allusions and advances, and flashbacks and flashforwards to keep you on your toes.  A fellow blogger recommended this one to me (thank you! ) and now I pass it on.  

What are you reading???