In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

This book came to me as part of my personal regimen to get back into the habit of reading - a habit I very much love, but had ceased to become a habit because of, well.... LIFE. But what life is life enough if there is no reading in it, right? So I subscribed to Book-o-Box, a book subscription service, where a book is hand-picked for you and sent home once a month in a box containing a few other bookish goodies! The book arrived in June, but I didn't get around to reading it until the 9th of July This book came to me as part of my personal regimen to get back into the habit of reading - a habit I very much love, but had ceased to become a habit because of, well.... LIFE. But what life is life enough if there is no reading in it, right? So I subscribed to Book-o-Box, a book subscription service, where a book is hand-picked for you and sent home once a month in a box containing a few other bookish goodies! The book arrived in June, but I didn't get around to reading it unt...

This book is truly unique, unlike any other book I’ve ever read. It’s got a dash of innocence and a whole bunch of random, interesting and complicated information (almost like a mini-encyclopaedia). And it’s heart-breaking to realise how such “special” people are usually much wiser and smarter than any of us “normal” people, yet we make life so hard, almost miserable for them. In addition to being a good story, it was an eye-opener and a learning experience. Thank you Christopher, it was such a pleasure knowing you! Rating: 5 stars

This was my first book in 2016. I had not heard of this book or author before; it is just something I chanced upon while browsing for book deals online. The story revolves around one character, Sylvia (often referred to as Sylvie) and her complex relationships with her family members. The family is a dysfunctional one, most if its problems rooting back to her father who is an alcoholic. The plot of the story is not very exciting; it has no unexpected twists, no romance, no death, none of that. It just gives you a slice out of a very ordinary life of a very ordinary 20-something girl from a dysfunctional family; someone who is grappling with her purpose in life, trying to find out who she really is, amidst the uncertain fate of her family. In the first few chapters, I found it very difficult to read as the descriptions were too many and too complex. I felt like they were muddled up, confused and fuzzy. At first, I attributed this to the writer's lack of skill, but later, I realise...

An entertaining book! I loved the protagonist, and the life bubbling from within her, even at the age of 52! While reading the book, I had initially pictured her as a woman in her late twenties or early thirties - right until the point where the writer outright mentions her age in the second chapter! Samantha Sweet (Sam) is such an inspiration to people like me who struggle with laziness, day after day. She handles two jobs; one for the money and one to follow her passion, and does them both exc An entertaining book! I loved the protagonist, and the life bubbling from within her, even at the age of 52! While reading the book, I had initially pictured her as a woman in her late twenties or early thirties - right until the point where the writer outright mentions her age in the second chapter! Samantha Sweet (Sam) is such an inspiration to people like me who struggle with laziness, day after day. She handles two jobs; one for the money and one to follow her passion, and does them ...

Obviously it was the title that led me to the book. As a person who never reads reviews or blurbs of a book before reading it (for fear it would kill any suspense for me), I had no idea what I was going to read about. The only thing I had guessed right was that the book is centred around a female protagonist. Little did I suspect that I was in for a heart-warming, heart-wrenching, heart-breaking story which is very much impregnated by events in the history of the world. A history, I warn you, which is not pretty. The book kept me riveted (not just 'glued' or 'engrossed' - those words are too inadequate!). It unfurls as the story of an elderly woman, Betty, (not a coloured woman, as you would assume!) who narrates her life as she grew up in Edenville, at a time when racial discrimination and violence was at its peak. But then again, the book is not just about the gut-flinching cruelty which prevailed in those times. That is the beauty of this book. The focus of the book...