Review: Cutting for Stone

Summary: Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined. -- Vintage

Many of you already know that my book club read CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Verghese this month. I absolutely adored this book and I just know it's going to be one of my favorites for 2010. I can't rave enough about this novel. The writing was spectacular, but the story was also incredible. I truly was blown away by Mr. Verghese's novel.

Often times when I love a book like CUTTING FOR STONE, I find it difficult to write my review. On one hand, I don't want to set readers' expectations too high because they might end up disappointed. But on the other hand, I really think this book is a must read! I can safely say this though. Based on my book club's experience, even if you aren't as passionate about this book as I am, you still will appreciate this read.

I was expecting a good book, but I admit that I'm a little surprised by just how much I adored this novel. Truth be told, I did have a little bit of a hard time getting into the novel. The first 150 pages or so (Part 1 of the book) were extremely descriptive. I realize that Mr. Verghese was setting up the story and the characters, but I was slightly concerned that I wasn't going to be able to really "get into" the story. And since CUTTING FOR STONE is a pretty long book (over 650 pages), I thought it might be a long read. However, once I got into this story, I was absolutely hooked. In fact, I read 500 pages in one day -- it's that good! I'm not sure if it was a matter of me getting used to his writing or that the story really took off or a mixture of both, but I couldn't put this book down.

I absolutely loved the characters in this novel. By that I don't mean that I loved every last one of them as people (although there were quite a few that I liked a great deal). I mean that they were so well developed and so real. The characters were all multi-dimensional and I felt as if I got to know and understand each one of them very well. What I really appreciated was how complex each character was. All of them had flaws (and some had major flaws) but they were all designed to be believable.

Another thing I really appreciated about CUTTING FOR STONE was the amount of history incorporated into the story. There is no doubt that I'm lacking in historical knowledge, especially about the country of Ethiopia. But I found the history aspects of this novel to be fascinating. I think Mr. Verghese did an amazing job of including not only the parts about Ethiopia's revolution, but also about the history of medical breakthroughs.

There are so many things about this novel that make it so good. But I truly think Mr. Verghese's writing is key. I was just so impressed with Mr. Verghese's writing style that I immediately wanted to get my hands on everything and anything he's ever written. His descriptions are incredible -- from the setting to the characters to the medical procedures. I had absolutely no problem picturing everything that occurred in this story. As I read this book, it was almost as if a movie were running through my head. And that rarely happens for me in a book this involved.

This novel is an absolutely gem. I can not get over how well Mr. Verghese incorporated so many wonderful themes and symbols into this novel. The references were subtle, yet extremely effective. I also thought he did an amazing job of bringing the many characters and storylines full circle. I have no idea how he managed to do all of this so well, but I think his writing is nothing short of genius!

CUTTING FOR STONE is a perfect book club selection despite its length. Almost all of our group finished the book and we usually read novels that are half this long. There is an excellent reader's guide available which touches on many of the important themes I wanted to discuss (and actually some that I didn't even think of.) Some of the topics for discussion include the definition of family, love, betrayal, war, medicine/healing, brotherly love, jealousy, relationship between twins, grief, loss, abuse, sacrifice, and many, many more. Believe me that there won't be a lack of things to discuss from this novel.

Needless to say, I could go on and on about this book (just ask my book club.) I feel like I only touched the surface of all the incredible things about this novel, but I think it's best to leave the rest up to the reader. So please take my recommendation and read this novel!

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this novel.

Review: Read, Remember, Recommend & New Challenge

Summary: The ultimate organizing resource for book-lovers and a self-published hit, Read, Remember, Recommend gives readers a one-stop shop to keep track of their reading. Featuring 60 cross-referenced lists of literary awards and notable picks (Pulitzer, National Book Award, 100 Best Books of the Century), this journal offers more than 2500 suggestions to help readers discover great literature and new authors. The journal also provides room to record books read, jot down thoughts and ideas, and keep track of recommendations, books borrowed and loaned, and book club history.

Unlike anything on the market, Read, Remember Recommend keeps readers coming back to bookstores to purchase recommended books, creates opportunities for add-on and return sales, and celebrates the readers' love of books. -- Sourcebooks

READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND: A READING JOURNAL FOR BOOK LOVERS created by Rachelle Rogers Knight (aka Bibliobabe) is an absolute must-have for all book lovers. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I've had looking through this book. This book has so much information in it that I hardly know where to start.

This journal is so easy to use. It's divided into six tabbed sections (and the tabs just happen to be very colorful!) -- Awards and Notable Lists, To Read, Journal Pages, Recommendations, Loaner Lists, and Resources. In addition, there are lots of blank lines and pages to fill in additional data as you need to.

All of the sections are beneficial, but I absolutely love the Awards and Notable Lists. Of course, I am a freak about lists -- I just love them! My husband pointed out that I could get all of that information off of the Internet, and sure I could, but that would be a major pain. In READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND, I have tons and tons of award winners and notable book lists in one place! There are all of the award lists that you'd expect (and more!), but there are also lists of the Oprah's Book Club selections as well as Pennie's Picks (from Costco) and Target's Bookmarked Book Club selections.

I was extremely excited to see that my blog was listed in the Resource section of the book under "Lighter Book-Related Blogs." I swear this hasn't affected my opinion of this journal in the slightest. Of course I'm very flattered that Rachelle featured my blog, but I'm also thrilled to be part of such a wonderful book resource.

As much as I love this journal (and I really, really do,), there is one little thing that I think could be improved. I'm pretty sure that I will eventually "outgrow" this journal. By that I mean that there are some blank lines and blank pages to add future award winners and other things like journal pages and recommendations; however, there is still a limit to this book. (Having said that, it's probably measured in quite a few years and it would be time to replace it anyway.) But what I'd love is for the next edition to be a binder where I could continually add either my own pages or updated replacement pages from the publisher. That would make is easier for me to have an on-going book journal, and I wouldn't have to copy the data again into a new one.

I can't recommend READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND enough either for yourself or another book lover in your life. It is an extremely valuable resource that I know I will use over and over again. I am already thinking of all of my friends who would benefit from a book like this.

And because I'm such a huge fan of this book, I thought it would be fun to participate in Bibliobabe's Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge. (I know you're thinking I'm crazy for joining another challenge when I'm not doing so well on the ones I've already joined.) I just couldn't resist joining after I looked through all of the wonderful books mentioned in READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND! There are so many that I want to read, but I think I'll just set my sights rather low with the Notable Newbie Level which is just five books. I can always move up a level for two if I manage to read more!
Here are the details straight from Bibliobabe's site:

Dates:
April 1st, 2010 to April 1st, 2011

Details:
* Check out all the amazing books (thousands!) mentioned in Read, Remember, Recommend and plan your attack. Books do not need to be decided upon in advance. All books must be mentioned in the journal lists.

* Write a challenge sign-up post on your blog. In that post provide a link to the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge post. Please feel free to use the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge button in your post. If you do not have a blog, introduce yourself in a comment below.

* Add your name and the direct link to the sign-up post in the Mister Linky list below. * Each time you read and review a book as part of this challenge, share this with other challenge participants by adding a direct link to your book review to the list in a comment at this post. If you do not have a blog, leave your review as a comment.

Rules:
* Read as many books from the Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal as you can in one year. Books read before April 1st, 2010 do not count. Overlaps with other challenges (including the Read, Remember, Recommend Teen Reading Challenge) are acceptable – and encouraged!

* Rereading doesn’t count – have fun exploring new authors, awards and books!

* Audio, print, and e-books are all acceptable.

* Post your review or link to your review in a comment below.

* You can change your commitment level at anytime.

Levels:
* Notable Newbie – 5 books

* Armchair Librarian – 10 books

* The Library of Congress Calls Me Daddy – 20 books

* A Book Intervention is Needed – 30 books

Prizes:
* The Grand Prize is an Ereader of your choice (Kindle 2, Nook, Sony Ereader, COOL-ER – $260 value)! There will be one grand prize drawing between both Read, Remember, Recommend Reading Challenges. Each review post comment will count as an entry into the drawing.

* The first place prize is a “Reading is Sexy” messenger bag filled with 5 books from the Read, Remember Recommend reading journal.

* The second place prize for each challenge is a $20 gift card to the bookstore of your choice.

Trust me on this one....get a copy of READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND! Not only will you love using it as your personal book journal, but you will also create a huge wish-list of books when you skim through it! And since you will have so many books that you dying to read, you can then join us for this very fun challenge!

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book.