portland book review

Some Recent Great Reads

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have had a flurry of good reads lately and only one of them was an actual book review!

I just finished “The Accidental Empress” by Allison Pataki. This book centered around the Habsburgs in 1853. This is historical fiction at its finest. The reader meets Sisi when she is 15 and suddenly finds herself betrothed to Emperor Franz Joseph. The book has all the usual suspects in a royal court and I could not help but feel sorry for Sisi as she learns to navigate the endless treachery while being so young.

I could not put down “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. The Holocaust always makes for an emotional-filled backdrop. Two sisters trying to survive while being rebellious against the Germans made for an incredible, engrossing read!

I reviewed “Paris Red” for Portland Book Review and loved it! This was another book with an instant character connection and engrossing period details.

“Unbecoming” by Rebecca Sherm guides the reader on a journey of how a few bad decisions can have one looking over their shoulders for a long time.

Finally, “The Paying Guests” by Sarah Waters made me definitely want to read more by this author. I could not put this book down after I was introduced to Frances and her mother in 1922. When their circumstances change and they are forced to take in guests (aka boarders) to make ends meet, the outcome changes their lives forever!

Two Recent Books Reviews-“The Vertical Garden” & “Mediterranean Landscape Design”

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The Vertical Garden

The Vertical Garden by author, artist and botanist Patrick Blanc is a book beyond your typical garden book.  The book opens with nine chapters devoted to natural habitats such as waterfalls, cliffs and epiphytes, just to name a few.  Blanc has traveled the world and has captured some stunning photos of plants and their habitats.  The book then moves to the impact of plants on architecture.  Again, Blanc has countless photos detailing superficial, hazardous and destructive impacts.   For many of the pictures, you must look at them several times in order to believe it is real.  Blanc’s passion is obvious.  He invented the concept of the vertical garden in 1991 and believed he could make a building transparent or invisible with plants.  He offers step-by-step photographs detailing the incredible process.  The book then closes with almost 100 pages of photographs and details of many of his works.  This book is a testament to Blanc’s vision, dreams and artistry in a life-altering way.  You will be mesmerized from beginning to end with the intricate plans and the attention to detail that is not often seen.

Mediterranean Landscape Design

265 tantalizing, breathless photographs grace the pages of Mediterranean Landscape Design by Louisa Jones with photographs by Clive Nichols.  Jones asks “What is the role of human beings in nature?”  This book reviews mountains, stonework, earthwork, woodwork, clipped greenery, meadows and field geometry with that vision in mind.  She explores the inspiration of age-old materials, skills and sites to give the reader lots of ideas.  The garden tapestries chapter was especially beautiful and the seascapes and gardens of Venice romance the reader with the pictures and the words.  Mediterranean Landscape Design places the reader in the middle of the Mediterranean landscapes of Greece, Spain, France, Morocco and Italy.  After you have viewed this book, you will almost feel like you have just returned from a stunning, relaxing Mediterranean vacation.

1Q84

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I finished 1Q84 yesterday.  There were times I loved the book and other times I asked myself,  “Why am I reading this?!”   Oftentimes, my head was spinning while I was trying to keep track of all the details…details that were excruciatingly painful at the beginning of the book. It took me about 300 pages before I was hooked  by the combination of mystery, fantasy and surprising love story of sorts.    Below is a  synopsis of the story.  I have submitted my review to Portland Book Review and the editor will take it from there.

Murakami’s book opens with Aomame walking down an emergency exit on a busy Tokyo expressway.  This unusual exit leads her to a parallel world that is not immediately evident until she notices some strange events, including two moons in the sky.  1984 becomes 1Q84 (with the Q signifying Question).  Aomame is a sports instructor by day but a one night stand, crazed assassin by night. Aomame is financially supported by a reclusive, rich dowager with her own need for revenge.  The story also introduces us to Tengo, a math instructor and part-time fiction writer.  Tengo experiences his own oddities when he works with a 17 year old that runs away from a cult that her parents lead.  Tension and danger builds as Tengo and the 17 year old write and publish a novel that reveals too much for the cult’s comfort.  Mysteriously, Aomame and Tengo are linked from the fifth grade and must meet again to return to 1984.