Drama-Lovers Book Club

Hello, I'd like to join the club if it's okay. :)

I forgot to post my February and March books!

February was In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant.

I've read three other books by the same author over the years (and mostly enjoyed them), but unfortunately, I think this was the weakest of the four.  That said, it was still an interesting read, since I knew little to nothing about the Borgia family.  I'd still recommend if you like historical fiction based on people who really existed and things that actually happened (though of course fictionalized to some extent).  Rating: 3/5

March was Just in Case by Meg Rosoff and The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty.

I was trying to remember if I had ever read anything other than short stories by Eudora Welty, so I picked up The Optimist's Daughter, more or less at random.  The main character kind of just fell flat for me, I guess, so I had trouble really feeling anything for it.  Probably didn't help that it's one of those books where most of the action is in the past, or in the main character's head.  Time to find a different Eudora Welty novel, haha.  Rating: 3/5

Just in Case was actually a really fun read!  It's told from the point of view of a anxious, depressed, but also pretty funny teenager.  Kind of gently philosophical, though also kind of just weird for the sake of weird at times.  Still, a quick and interesting read with a whole slew of memorable characters.  Rating: 3.5/5

A friend gave me this book and I have just finished reading and am completely under shock of how prophetic this book was when it was first published in 1991. I am having trouble believing that someone was so lucid as to see where our society was heading. And this writer was and he did see. Oh so clearly! And we are, as a society, exactly where he thought we would be almost thirty years ago.

Philippe Muray, The Empire of Kindness - There is an urgent need to undermine it. (my translation of the title page: I could not find the book in english!)

In the sales bin at my local bookshop, I found this very interesting book full of random fun facts about Thailand!A good book to gain some knowledge about Thai culture and customs...;-) It is 12 years old but some things need time to change so I think it is quite accurate.

I have just finished reading this book and it made me realize how lucky I am!

Written by a former police detective who is basing his novels on his own experience, this book felt like a punch in the gut. It tells the story about Paris difficult suburbs, where hope does not exist anymore and everyone just survives one day at a time, earning meagre living by drug trafficking. The politicians are using the inhabitants' misery for their own cynical career and the police do what they can, when they are allowed to do it. 

Even if only 10% of what Olivier Norek wrote is true, this world is seriously damaged and except for some brave cops, nobody seems to be interested in having anything change for the better. The writing is smooth, to the point, very lifelike. And the main characters are a bunch of highly intelligent idealists! We need so many more of them!

 Selma:

You seem to ba a Brandon Sanderson fan. Can you recommend a book by him please? I read the novels he wrote in order to complete The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and frankly I was not impressed by his writing.

But he seems to be highly regarded and TWOT was not his own original work so maybe his other books are better. Thanks!

Sure ^^ To preface though, in case this is a really important aspect for you in books,  the widespread love for Sanderson has nothing to do with his prose. He never writes 'flowery' and is more intent on just being a "storyteller", getting the tale he wants to across in a professional but also accessible way.

Majority of his popular works are set in the 'cosmere', making them interconnected in the same universe. Aside from The Sunlit Man, so far he's written all of them so that you can start anywhere without context knowledge from previous books.

My personal recommendation is to start with Tress of the Emerald Sea: 

It's a fun start thanks to being a cozy standalone; Sanderson experimented with his writing here. Rather than being narrated by the protagonist, it is told from the POV of a storyteller character that appears in other cosmere books - Hoid. With Hoid speaking directly to readers, it feels a bit like a real person telling you a story by a bonfire.

 Selma:

While waiting to find some time to go to the bookshop this weekend and needing a change of tone after the tough previous book, I decided to brush up on my classics! Always a favourite! I must have read it about 100times and believe it or not, I still find new and interesting details inside ...go figure!

I've read it about 100 times too - and watched most of its versions, series or movies!