The Universe in Miniature in Miniature - Patrick Somerville

Wow! This is one of those books you stumble on and can't believe you didn't always know about. As I have written (too) many times, I am not the biggest fan of short stories, so this contributed to me letting this book, yet another Borders Last Days find, sit on the TBR pile for so long. Now I can only kick myself for not picking it up sooner, as I fell madly in love with it.

It started with the cover, which has directions for turning the book into a mobile, among other things. The more I read, the more I admired the elegant writing and the more I started to see things come together. Ultimately, this book struck me as being kind of ingenious. The last story did me in though - it sealed the deal in a big way. If I had time, I'd reread this book right now - but that will have to wait. Recommended.

Emily of Deep Valley - Maud Hart Lovelace

It's rare to find a main character that is as sympathetic as the titular Emily in this book. Even though the story is set in 1912, there were parts of it that really resonated with me (or the me that was once 18). I found Emily to be charming and to be the embodiment of the expression "bloom where you're planted." My copy of this book included biographical information on the author, the young woman who was the inspiration for Emily (a friend of the author), and the illustrator, which really added to my enjoyment of the book. A fast, sweet read that I recommend.

The North China Lover - Marguerite Duras

This autobiographical novel was both easy and difficult to read. Told in the 3rd person but written in the present tense, it was almost more like a script, complete with notes for filming. It reminded me a lot of many European films - impressionistic rather than following a concrete plot. People cry and laugh a lot (often at the same time) and there is lots of frank sexuality. That said, now I wouldn't mind reading The Lover (L'amant) or Hiroshima mon amour, and/or reading these books in the original French.

Fated - S.G. Browne

Yet another of the Borders Last Days Sale haul that has finally been read. I enjoyed this lighthearted and irreverent take on fate and destiny (among other things), which also had plenty of room for some more thought-provoking material. The characters were very easily pictured and there were parts that had me laughing out loud here and there. One thing I found interesting was that I wasn't able to discern the author's overall message in some places; this is probably more about my deficiencies as a reader than any kind of defect in the writing. I'd definitely check out the author's other books.

Fall of Frost - Brian Hall

Not sure what to make of this book. I found it as a remaindered book in a local dollar store, and I like Robert Frost's poetry, so it appealed to me and I impulsively bought it and added it to the overflowing TBR shelves to gather a thin film of dust for a couple years. Upon finally getting down to reading the book, I discovered that much like The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, this book is based on known and documented events, letters, sayings, and etc. but it's a novelized version of these events. That didn't bother me, but I can't say I was crazy about the execution, which jumped around in time. The passages about the final events in Frost's life, such as his trip to Russia in 1962, worked really well for me, while a lot of the other parts were too brief and staccato for my taste. All in all though, I appreciated the author's attempt to illuminate the inspiration for Frost's poetry.

A Carrion Death - Michael Stanley

I enjoyed this mystery set in Botswana. It's the first in a series, and I thought the author (actually a team of two) did nice work with lots of interesting twists and turns. There are apparently several other books with the charming and likable Detective David "Kubu" Bengu, with whom I share a liking for opera, regular meals, and good wine. I'll be sure to check those out in the future when I've tamed my TBR pile.

Alibi - Joseph Kanon

This was a page-turning thriller, despite the fact that I didn't much like most of the characters. I believe that that's the point - the point is, during wartime (and maybe all the time), everyone becomes morally ambiguous and people do what they feel they have to do to survive or to win. However, there were times when the (highly unreliable) narrator seemed so incapable of any kind of clear thinking that I wanted to give him a good shaking. The events, as they unfold, do have an organic feel, and there's an overall feeling of doom that pervades the story. That said, this kept me reading and wondering how it would all turn out.

35 kilos d'espoir - Anna Gavalda

I found a local French class that includes reading a novel in French as part of the class, and this was the book chosen for this particular session. This book was really great - it was touching, even when the main character was frustrating. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Although it's a book intended for kids 10 and up, there was still much vocabulary I had to learn, relearn, and look up, including a bunch of slang, so it was sufficiently challenging for me. Unfortunately the timing of this class means that this book is way too late to count for the Language Freak Summer Challenge (LFSC), but it still counts for the Books on France Challenge, so that's good. And I hope there is a session of this class next summer with another book in French so it will count for the LFSC 2015! :)

Et maintenant, ma petite critique en français !

J'ai trouvé une classe de français qui comprend la lecture d'un roman en français, et ce petit livre était la choix pour la session en cours. Ce livre était formidable - c'était touchant et émouvant, même que le personnage principal était frustrant pour moi. Ce livre me plaisait beaucoup :^).

Bien que c'est un livre pour les enfants dès 10 ans, c'était plein de mots inconnus, et aussi beaucoup argot. Donc j'ai augmenté le vocabulaire.

Dommagement, je n'ai trouvé pas la classe avant que j'ai participé avec <<le défi pour les fanatiques des langues étrangères>>, et donc ce livre ne marche pas pour ça, hélas. Mais ça marche pour un autre défi, <<le défi des livres de France>>.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James

This book, written by a Jane Austen scholar, is a lovely pastiche of biography and retrofitted scenes from Austen's novels that creates a fun and touching account of Austen's private life, as revealed by these "lost memoirs." Having just read three Austen novels in the past several years, it was interesting for me to find out more about her real life (much of the book is based on fact) and how, in some cases, her life and the lives of her characters intersected. I think if you are an Austen fan you will enjoy this novel quite a bit.

The Poison Tree - Erin Kelly

I think I saw this book every single time I visited Borders in the year or so before it closed for good. I picked it up and put it down many times - it seemed intriguing but I was trying to avoid spending too much money on new books. Flash forward slightly to the last days sales, and there was a copy of this book, so I eagerly snatched it up and took it home - where it sat on my TBR pile until now.

I enjoyed this suspenseful book, a well written psychological thriller. I envy the narrator's ability with languages and I can understand her longing for a more "interesting" life at a young age. I did begin to get a bit impatient during the story, wondering what exactly happened, but overall this was a fast and enjoyable read.