Puss Reboots: Blog: March 2008: Comments

Recent posts

Book Reviews:

Bleach Volume 9 by Tite Kubo.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Marakami.
The Boarder by Alexander Jablokov.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.
Count to Ten Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox.
Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen.
Exit Strategy by K. D. Wentworth
Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward.
The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D by Marilyn Sachs.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen.
Frogs by Martin Schwabacher.
He Rents, She Rents by Richard Roeper and Laura Viera.
Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton.
The Ka of Gifford Hillary by Dennis Wheatley.
Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes.
Leadership Brand by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
Lorna Doone (Abridged) by R. D. Blackmore
Lost Pilgrim by Gene Wolf.
The Magnificent Mummy Maker by Elvira Woodruff.
Manhattan is Missing by E. W. Hildick.
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes.
Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
The Overseer by Albert E. Cowdrey.
Park by Pierre Pratt
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.
Q & A by Vikas Swarup
The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association by Loren D. Estleman
Rumple What? by Nancy Springer
Sea Turtles by Emilie U. Lepthien.
The Second Descent by Richard Paul Russo.
Stanley in Space by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Scott Nash.
Take a Stand, Rosa Parks! by Peter and Connie Roop.
Tall by Jez Alborough.
Trucks and Diggers by DK Publishing.
Women & Self-Esteem by Linda Tschirhart Sanford and Mary Ellen Donovan

Miscellaneous:
Kirby Went to the Beach by Sean Sammis

Previous month

Q & A: 03/30/08

Facing jail on a fake charge of cheating, Ram Mohammad Thomas tells his life story to a friendly ear. Each piece of his life broken into thirteen chapters correlates to one of the answers Thomas has managed to get correct. It is his own itinerant life that has given him the background he needs to win the billion rupees.

As preposterous as Q & A sounds, Vikas Swarup's novel is based on fact. At the back of the book, Swarup includes a brief history of a young Indian who won the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Swarup also includes the winning questions. If that isn't interesting enough, Swarup also discusses the process of writing the book and the research done .

Although the setup of Q & A sounds lighthearted, there are some depressing subjects: physical abuse, sexual abuse, child exploitation, war, autism, prostitution and poverty. It took me a couple of chapters to start enjoying the novel but once I was done, I was happy I had read it.

Readers who enjoyed Cereus Blooms at Night by Shani Mootoo and Immortal by Traci L. Slatton will enjoy Q & A.