A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout

"Because that’s the thing about the exact moment when you get somewhere that has required effort: There’s a freeze-frame instant of total fulfillment, when every expectation has been met and the world is perfect."

-― Amanda Lindhout, A House in the Sky

This book shook me. This shouldn't have happened to this young and naive traveller.. but at the same time it seems almost inevitable. 

Amanda Linkhout is a somewhat lost, but determined, aspiring journalist who in her early twenties travels to increasingly dangerous places. First maybe to escape an uncomfortable childhood. And in the end, maybe to find something in herself. She is kidnapped by religious extremists while on a ill-fated trip to the civil war-torn country of Somalia. She is subsequently tortured, raped, starved, and is forced to assimilate their culture and rituals for her own survival. This memoir chronicles, in sometimes painful detail, her harrowing 16 months in captivity alongside an Australian photographer who was traveling with her and who was also kidnapped. 

The most interesting part of this book was, by far, the emotions that Amanda goes through while in captivity. Fear, trust, betrayal, curiosity, loneliness, desolation, and even compassion are all a part of her journey.

I definitely have a different understanding of this country and its people, about religious extremism and the souls who get caught up in it.

I definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy intense non-fiction- however trigger warning for those who may be survivors of sexual abuse or hostage situations.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

“I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads. It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.” 

 -― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See 

Anthony Doerr is a genius. A beautifully crafted story.... Lots of short chapters- literary morsels I wanted to savour- but towards the end couldn't help but to stuff them into my face. 

I normally don't enjoy war/historical fiction but something drew me to this book and I'm so glad I took a chance on it. 

Marie-Laure is a little blind french girl living in Paris during World War II. Her father, who adores Marie-Laure, works as a clever locksmith for Paris's Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. Werner is a very small-for-his-age german child prodigy. Dangerously curious for his time, and too bright for his own good, he gets whisked away to a german technical school for boys, a place where his very humanity is put to the limit as his superiors try to strip him of any individuality or critical thinking. Their paths end up intertwining in a beautiful and slightly magical way. 

I give this book 10/10 seashells.

I am really trying to venture outside of my reading comfort zone. I am normally attracted to literary "junk-food" if you will. Cheap, short, easy reads where the story- maybe not very cleverly developed but certainly sensational- draws you in until you can't book the book down. Not because it's good... but because it's intense and addictive and gets you high. But I'm craving something a little more satisfying. Something more in-depth and real. I want dynamic characters and interesting plots. I don't want to guess what is going to happen and be right. I want to be surprised. 

Well, I really hope you will give this book a chance. If you do read it, or have read it before, please let me know what you think!

Decisions.

Two paperbacks. Two decisions. Two worlds. Two stories. Do I delve into the mind of a deranged and lonely death row inmate seeking some fantasy and magic for his final moments? Or do I journey to Mars with an abandoned and secluded- and frankly- totally doomed astronaut trying desperately to stay alive?

Two choices in front of me. Two critically acclaimed and well reviewed pieces of artwork, their bindings perfectly flat, inviting me to break them down, wrinkle them up.. inviting me to see what they hide inside. 

A perfect, newly printed, untainted book.. is like a motionless pool of water. Reflective in all the right ways. It promises to be enveloping. Just begging to be disturbed, to be enjoyed. Is it cool and refreshing like a neighbourhood pool on a muggy summer afternoon? Does it betray a hot and earthy sulphur scent in the moonlight? Is it paralyzingly cold, do you feel as though you could be trapped beneath its icy surface forever? Maybe so! The only way to find out is to dive in...

I have no idea which one to go with. The cover art on both is amazing. I love the simplicity. I am always turned off by complicated book covers... let the story speak for itself! I can tell when there's a desperation to draw someone in.

I think I will go with The Martian by Any Weir. The last book I read was mostly sullen with a small hint of light and magic.. which seems to be what The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld is as well... The Martian is so far removed from any Sci-Fi I've read before and I'm curious about how the story is going to unfold.. it seems so desperate and so.... futile. But also terrifying and exciting.

Stay tuned for reviews of both of these books, and movie adaptation reviews, book club stuff, and other literature related things, and my personal musings and attempts at prose.