NekkidBlogger Bookblog » bestseller

Brida, by Paulo Coelho

Nekkidblogger — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:02:49 +0000

Paulo Coelho is one of the most gifted and beloved story tellers of our time. As well, he has a mind where, seemingly, fantasy is allowed to roam free of constraints. Thus his books are things of beauty – with tales that tickle the minds of his readers and impart small but important insights about the machinations of the world we inhabit.

The relatively short and delightful tale of Brida O’Fem is definitely such a book – a well crafted mind stretcher! Young, cute Brida is an Irish lass wishing to become a witch. Her tale, set in Ireland during the mid-80s, is fantastic, compelling and vividly told. In its own right, it’s an epic.

Like the main characters in other Coelho books, she goes searching for the wisdom and crafts she will need. But is it magic she wants? Or love? Or wisdom? Does she really know? She meets people of great wisdom. She is taught about the other, spiritual world. She is taught to see and listen. She learns to overcome fears. She learns to hear the music of the world, and to dance to it. She learns to pray to the moon. She encounters the concept of the soul mate.

But where in the multitude of options in the many planed universe lies her destiny? And what is it? How and where is fulfillment to be found – in love, passion, mystery, witchcraft? And what is it she is learning on her strange journey – more, I think, self-discovery and self-acceptance than anything else.

Brida is a book which transforms the reading experience into a journey of its own. A travel alongside Brida into the depths of the readers’ minds. Beautifully worded, marvelously told, stirring the senses and raising a desire to reach that which must be there, at the end of the journey. A mind-teaser of a book!

Links to Paulo Coelho’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Review of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Piano Teacher, by Janice Y K Lee

Nekkidblogger — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:41:23 +0000

The Piano Teacher tells a complicated, convoluted story of adaptation, love, betrayal and responses to changing circumstances. The story is set in war-torn Hong Kong, partly during World War II itself, partly during the aftermath of the war.

A focal point in the novel is Will Truesdale, an Englishman who arrived in Hong Kong in 1942. In most ways he is an ordinary, self doubting man. However, having arrived, he more or less immediately falls headlong into a passionate relationship with the extremely attractive, intriguing and beautiful Eurasian socialite Trudy Liang.

As the war in Asia spreads, Hong Kong too is captured. Will, being English, is forced into an internment camp. Trudy, on the other hand, is Eurasian and is able to remain outside. And while they struggle to retain their affair even after they have been separated, it soon becomes apparent that their opportunities and outlooks develop in quite different directions.

Will tries his best to contribute to the collective of the prison camp, and is increasingly shaped by the events, obligations and bonds there. Trudy, on the other hand, seeks to preserve her high society lifestyle, and involves herself with the Japanese. She soon gets involved in affairs far beyond her control. Her desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art on behalf of her Japanese lover leads to a chain of terrible betrayals, involving several pillars of society.

Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter’s piano teacher. She meets Will, is attracted to him, and becomes his mistress. Again, a love affair of Will’s takes on an importance much larger than the affair itself. And as Claire begins to understand the intricacies and multiple conflicts of the world she has entered, long-buried secrets are brought to the fore. And now Claire’s whole life changes as a consequences of the revelations that are unleashed.

Janice Y. K. Lee’s first novel, The Piano Teacher, is beautiful and written in a spare and understated form, where only the tips of huge icebergs of events are visible up to the very end. None of her characters are particularly endearing, but they are complex, interesting, often disagreeable, and very authentic. The whole book is full of intrigue. And even though the novel raises many more questions than it answers, the answers that are provided are very satisfactory. I strongly recommend it!

Praise:

“Evocative, poignant and skillfully crafted, The Piano Teacher is more than an epic tale of war and a tangled, tortured love story. It is the kind of novel one consumes in great, greedy gulps, pausing (grudgingly) only when absolutely necessary.” — Chicago Tribune

False Impression, by Jeffrey Archer

Nekkidblogger — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:12:49 +0000

In this thriller, written by Jeffrey Archer in 2006, it’s September 10, 2001, and Lady Victoria Wentworth is sitting in spacious Wentworth Hall considering the sad state of family fortunes when a female intruder slips in, slashes her throat and cuts off her ear.

The next day in New York, art expert Anna Petrescu heads to her job as art wrangler for wealthy magnate Bryce Fenston of Fenston Finance. The pair’s offices are in the Twin Towers, and when disaster strikes, each sees the tragedy as an opportunity to manipulate a transaction scheduled to transfer ownership of a legendary Van Gogh painting, Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, from the Wentworth estate to the larcenous Fenston.

Another great story full of twists and turns from a master storyteller, but even so False Impression is not quite up to the pre-prison standards of Lord Jeffrey Archer. It is still well worth reading, of course.

Order False Impression by Jeffrey Archer from amazon UK or from amazon US: Jeffrey Archer

Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras), by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Nekkidblogger — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:28:27 +0000

Almost 25 years after their first Dragonlance book was published, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have started a new fantasy series entitled Dragonships of Vindras. Bones of the Dragon is the first of six volumes in the Dragonships of Vindras saga. Bones of the Dragon introduces a new creative world and a story full of with adventure, romance, misguided love, and conflicts between humans, dragons and ogres.

Fans of the fantasy genre know Weis and Hickman from their Dragonlance Chronicles, as well as other wonderful series such as The Deathgate Cycle, The Sovereign Stone Trilogy, and The Darksword Trilogy.

The hero of Bones of the Dragon is young Skylan Ivorson, a sea-raider of the Vindras, and a young warrior. Skylan is son to the Torgun chief—a small clan of the Vindras. He eventually, by means of the deceit of a cunning priestess, becomes the Chief of Chiefs of all the Vindras clans. This is an honor he truly feels he has deserved, by as we learn Skylan is a great fighter and courageous on the battle-field, but may not have all the other qualities desired of a great leader of the Vindras tribes.

The Vindras tribes, previously blessed by the gods, are going through a difficult period. They don’t exactly know why, but it seems their gods are no longer blessing them or answering their calls. And indeed, as it turns out, the gods are involved in a grand war themselves, that will influence and perhaps determine the fate of humanity. Skoval and the other ancient gods are under siege from a new generation of gods who are challenging them for the powers of creation. The only way to stop these brash interlopers seems to lie with the mysterious and hidden Five Bones of the Vektan Dragons.

To gather these bones is a task for the Vindras people, as the dragon-goddess’s champions. In order to have a fighting chance, they must recover all five dragon bones. However, the bones have been scattered throughout the land and their location is unknown. Yet they must be found. The fate both of the Gods and of humanity is at stake.

Weis and Hickman, who are real masters of the trade, do a wonderful job of painting a picture for the readers to understand this new world. However, since so much time is spent on world-building, it takes a while for Bones of the Dragon to build up to the adventures and developing an understanding for the story and what the series is about. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting – some endearing, some you hate immediately, some mean, some mystical, and some many of these things. And the plot picked up considerably at the end. I found Bones of the Dragon to be an intriguing and highly entertaining book to read. And knowing Weis and Hickman, I am sure the other books in this new series will be stunning!

Order Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman’s Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras) from amazon US, or order from amazon UK: Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships).

The Joy of Sex, new edition!

Nekkidblogger — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:19:58 +0000

The Joy of Sex, originally released in 1972, was parked on the New York Times bestseller list for the longest time. As Washington Post says, “It scintillated, it titillated, it taught French you never learned from Madame Cousin. But most of all, it normalized. In the boudoir, everyone was okay, and everyone could be taught.”

The Joy of Sex is subtitled “A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking,”, and has chapter headings like Starters, Main Courses and Sauces & Pickles.

The revised version of the book deals with an array of modern topics like Internet pornography, AIDS and Viagra, and features photographs (and drawings, when things get too graphic) of a couple. And it has been thoughly revised and updated. It reflect the latest research about the biology of sex. There is new material on the arousal cycle, hormones, pheromones, the clitoris, the relevance of the nipples, how erections work, aphrodisiacs, and more. Also, in addition to the elusive G spot, there is material about two other spots women can also enjoy, should they be lucky enough to locate them: the A spot, deeper inside the vagina than the G spot; and the U spot, between the clitoris and the vagina.

So, there it is. It’s a beautiful book, still fresh, and a great book to read to learn more or get som new ideas.

The new Joy of Sex available both in England and the U.S. It is highly recommended. Check it out!

Amazon US	Amazon UK

See also the bestselling books (links to amazon US): The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amazing Sex, Third Edition and The Other Side of Desire: Four Journeys into the Far Realms of Lust and Longing.

Ann Patchett: Run

Nekkidblogger — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:55:44 +0000

Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, Tip’s favorite hangout, to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met. I loved the book most of the time while reading it, and I loved the characters. Especially I loved little Kenye, the running girl.

As in her bestselling novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories, each with surprising twists, into an endlessly moving narrative. It is a strange tale of odd coincidences, and suspenseful and stunningly executed, Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children.

A fabulous book!

Other books by this increadibly talented American writer available at amazon US: Bel Canto (P.S.), Taft, and the marvelous The Magician’s Assistant).

Read what the New York Times book review writes about Run! Also, see the review of Bel Canto at World of Books.