Hannah Suarez

One day, the day after I came back to Brisbane from Sydney I decided that I want to read a lot of books and get away from university and technology for a bit.  Somehow, it has ended up to reading 5 novels and 2 biographies in 2 weeks.  A lot more than I read in the past couple of years at least.

So what brought about this change?  I needed a change from what I do ‘usually’.  I want to go ‘old school’.  I need a break really – break from events, break from uni textbooks, break from technology, break from reading feeds and status messages and emails.  I want to sit at a cafe for hours to soak up the fresh air and have a good book. And I encourage people to take a break if they feel that they are getting too much of something! First I started off raiding my housemate’s bookshelves as I have no novels of my owns and then started going out there and buying books.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

I really like the vivid imagery that Dan Brown provides us around Rome, the inner workings of the Vatican City, CERN and other locations that are provided in the character’s flashbacks.  I am a fan of those kinds of settings – contemporary and historical.  For some reason, I was expecting something a bit different based on someone’s remark on the movie but I actually like the story and the contemporary themes that is very obvious.  I guessed who the culprit was just before midway and there were a couple of chapters where it felt like Dan was writing it just to provide a ‘buffer’ and it was mainly during the action scenes.  Great if you want to read action.

Maid of Honour by Elizabeth Byrd

This was definitely something that I haven’t read before – a romantic story disguised as a historical-rich novel.  The way the story is told, from the point of view of ‘one of the Mary’s’ who accompanied Mary Queen of Scots from when she was a single digit age was interesting.  However, I didn’t feel that I gained a lot out of it simply because it wasn’t told from the Queen herself (hm, this may have contribute to me buying ‘Catherine the Great’ later on?).  The first 3/4 of the novel was very interesting and I was really engaged in it but as I progressed on, I got a bit disinterested in it thinking ‘What is the point of this?’.  That the author have stayed a bit too truthful to the historical accounts and I felt that the creativity of doing this diminishes with each finishing chapter.   Great if you feel like reading a romance.

A Connecticut Fashionista In King Arthur’s Court by Marianne Mancusi

Halfway through the novel, I started getting irritated at the way the author has portrayed the main character – for example, she is in her late 20′s but she thinks and acts like someone who could be 15 years old.  There would be times when I get frustrated by the main character’s decision or thought processes.  Somehow made it up by making me chuckle more than a few times though.  The twist at the end was lame so I do not recommend this book.

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry

This was a little bit like the Dan Brown book that I have read – weaving historical accounts (this time around, Alexander the Great) with contemporary (present day Europe and central Asia).  There was also topics of discussion that are familiar to us – the threat of a bio warfare, the commercial exploitation of pharmaceutical companies, diseases and outbreaks (bird flu and no swine flu references) while putting in a touch of detective narratives in solving puzzles using gold medallions and parchment paper.  The formula is there and it has worked on me so  I recommend this book – great if you feel like reading action and looking up Wikipedia at the same time.

Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life by Donald Trump

Thus starts what I dub the ‘Bio Binge’!   Found next to Ted Turner’s biography in Borders, I decided to choose Donald Trump and just see what goes on in his head and I got what I was looking for and perhaps a bit too much when Donald starts talking about his great sex life.  This was written alongside the Learning Annexe CEO and the format of the book, divided into chapters with titles such as “Do You Have What It Takes?” and “Never Take Your Eyes on the Ball”.  I recommend this book – someone have mentioned me that writers tend to be great speakers and I can imagine Donald speaking in the same way that he would write.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

It was not until the a quarter into the book when I started getting engaged with the style of writing and storytelling (ie differences in language between the servants and the main characters) but I soon got over it and in the end, I have definitely enjoyed this book.  Perhaps closer attention may have warranted the ‘hype’ of this story but considering the time that it was written, the book was not like its contemporaries.  By the end of the Wuthering Heights, I have this dark-gothic romantic scenery in my head based on the natural landscape that it was based in and also the events that have happened in the homes.  Overall, if you feel like reading a Penguin Classic, I definitely recommend this book.  In fact, I enjoy this classic so much that I endeavour to read another.

Business @ The Speed of Thought – The Digital Nervous System by Bill Gates

Even though it was written in 1999, one of the things that I would like to investigate further, and what interests me most, is whether or not the items that in the book have happened today, are relevant/irrelevant today or if it is still yet to be manifested.  I remember the computers that I had back in school in 1999 and I was a really avid Internet user but I would have been too young to properly understand the big decisions that were made during that time.  Definitely a great read – love or hate Microsoft in 1999 or 2009, gotta respect Bill Gates.  A recommendation from me!

Catherine The Great by John Alexander (currently reading)

I decided that I want to read more biographies as I have enjoyed Donald Trump’s so much!  Here are the bios that I bought:

• Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
• Living History Memoirs by Hillary Clinton
• Hillary Clinton – The Inside Story by Judith Warner (I didn’t realise that I would win this one.  Oh well).
• Richard Pratt (I didn’t look him up in Wikipedia until after I bought the book, his name was just familiar…)
• Nelson Mandela, Salvador Dali and Winston Churchill are on my wishlist.

Had a great chat with Nat Duncan who runs Queensland Film Locations.  There is another book that I bought, The Secrets of Female Entrepreneurs Exposed, and have lent it to her

Anyway, reviews coming shortly! I’ll see how I go by the end of today (June 28) and write the reviews of the two books in progress.