Of cats, possums and rules (books 17 and 18) in Book Challenge 2016 (52 books to be read in 52 weeks)

So, I read The Bastard Of Istanbul by Elif Shafak last year and was impressed enough to pick up another one of her books. I’d never read a book set in Turkey before, or anything by a Turkish author. I had one of those “wow” moments, and decided to keep a look out for her other work. In The Forty Rules Of Love (358 pages), Ella is an American housewife. Feeling trapped in a dull marriage and looking after three teenage children, Ella starts work reading manuscripts for a publishing house. Her first is a work about the Sufi poet Rumi and his friendship with Shams of Tabriz, written by an unknown author. This sets Ella on a journey of self discovery....

This book was a fantastic, quick read. The chapters are short (and all start with the letter “b”), from different points of view. But Shafak does it in a way that’s uncomplicated, and makes the reader want to keep reading. Even if you know the ending of the sub plot, you still want to find out how it happened. I would give this four and a half stars, only because of one issue I had with the book. Ella finds out one of her daughters has a serious issue - it would have been better if the issue would have been worked into the story a bit more.
Date Read: 26 February to 1 March 2016.

I’d been meaning to read Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot (116 pages) for years. Quite literally. I’ve been meaning to see the musical based on this book too, for a similar amount of time. Just haven’t gotten round to it. This was a lovely, fun little read about the mischievous, the good and the bad…I wish I’d read this as a child. Just to get more of the sense of fun out of it. Date Read: 3rd March 2016.

Books Read This Year So Far: 18. Pages Read So Far This Year: 4795

Last updated March 05, 2016