Failure - Reading Wrap-Up for 2009

Not a good feeling to admit a failure... it is as it is, though.

The past 4 months have been full of yet another new language learning due to our move to Europe next year. Not an easy task, but the conditions offered there are too good to say no

So, I had to cheat to state my reading challenges complete - A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz is certainly not a WWII book, yet holocaust is unmistakenly a big subject in the book, so I counted it for the challenge.

Although I wasn't able to read in the past months as much as I'd have liked to, overall, I'm really satisfied with my reading year.

Brief overview of last books read:

A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz (Harcourt 2004, translated from the Hebrew by Nicholas de Lange; 538 pages).

A family story, story of Eastern European Jews, story of Jerusalem, of birth of Isreal...

It's very much my kind of book, I liked it immensly, so it went right into my favourite books list.

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (Viking Books 2008, 359 pages).
Although like in "Tale of Love and Darkness" story itself is quite strong and catching, I found execution to be lacking somehow. Perhaps the timing was not good as the impression from "Tale..." was too strong yet...

The Lost Upland: Stories of Southwestern France by W.S. Merwin (Alfred A. Knopf 1992; 307 pages).

Lyrical quirky stories about rural France, lost landscapes and ways of life.

Three Apples Fell from Heaven: A Collection of Armenian Folk and Fairy Tales retold by Mischa Kudian (Rupert Hart-Davis 1969; 128 pages)

Excellent stories, not a childrens' book.
Got this as a present for Peter to remind him of his heritage.

My Estonia vol. 1 by Justin Petrone (Petrone Print 2009, 352 pages).

Perhaps it's interesting especially for the Estonians, to see how others see us... I liked it a lot, it was hard to put it down, finished it with two days. Warm, catching story... waiting for the volume 2 to be published.