A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

Title: A Place Called Here
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Genre: Fiction
Paperback: 389 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins Pb (October 20, 2006)
Set in: Ireland
Source: Personal Shelf
Rating: 3 out of 5

My Thoughts:
I read P.S. I love you by Cecelia Ahern some time back and although I didn’t like the writing style a lot, I did love the book. So when I got this book in a sale I thought I could give this author another chance and see if we get along. Unfortunately I didn’t like the book as much as I hoped to. I liked the writing style in this one but unfortunately the plot was very slow for me.

Sandy Shortt becomes obsessed with lost things when at the age of 10 her neighbor and classmate disappears. Sandy struggles to cope with the concept of lost and how things can suddenly disappear. When she becomes an adult she joins the Gardai’ who search for missing people. She becomes so obsessed with the cases that she finds it difficult to let go; so she opens a missing persons agency of her own. After years of wondering where all the missing socks and things and people go, Sandy lands up in a place which is in a different dimension altogether.

Have you wondered where all your missing stuff goes? One moment you have it and the next moment it disappears. Sandy lands up in such a place, A Place Called Here, where all the missing people are. Even all the missing things are there. It’s a place where you can get in but not get out of. It’s a whole new world where all the missing people have made a life for themselves. They have their own towns where missing people from all over the world stay.

Although I liked the concept of the book, after about 100 pages I began to wonder where all this was heading. The story was not moving forward as fast as I liked and frankly I was bored after a certain point and wanted the book to end or to reach a conclusion.

The good part about it was how the author handled the state of people who are missing or those whose someone is missing. She captures their emotions very well. There is something about this book that kept me reading in spite of being a little bored by it. I think many people might like this book, it just wasn’t for me.

Random tidbits…

Since I have been absent for some time (again), I thought I shall write an update post, not that is of any interest to you but it makes me feel as if I’m not ignoring my blog as much.

So here we go with the tiny details of my life which is probably of no interest to anyone else whatsoever.

–I have joined Aerobics class on every Wednesday which is good since it’s also encouraged me to exercise every other day as well. I go jogging or do Power Yoga, power yoga mostly because I can do it at home.

–I know I’m late but Kung Fu Panda was super fun, so was Delhi Belly. I need to watch Harry Potter though.

–We are going to Phuket, Thailand in August during the National Holiday week and I’m already excited. Let me know if you’ve been there, I would love to know what places are not to be missed.

–I’ve read really good books these past couple of months but haven’t got time to blog about them all. I also read The Graveyard Book (finally!) and love it.

–I’ve been missing home a lot lately, home meaning Pune in India. But I can only go in October during Diwali, hope it comes soon.

–I’ve found new girlfriends at work and we have a lot of fun. Every girls needs good girlfriends and considering I have very few friends here, it makes me very happy.

–Have you checked out Google+? What do you think? I don’t find it very different from Facebook.

–I have this intense urge to visit the library since I haven’t got time to do that since a long time. I need to get lost in rows and rows of ceiling to floor books, hoping I get time to go this weekend. That’s the library I go to in the picture below.

–I’m reading The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam which takes place after the Bangladesh war of Independence. It’s good so far and I hope I like it as much as the first book A Golden Age. What are you reading at the moment?

–Work has reduced drastically, so I might have more time for blogging. The only problem is I can’t blog from work because most of the sites are blocked here including WordPress. I’m hoping to dedicate some time on the weekends.

Anyway, enough about me. How have you all been???

DragonKeeper by Carole Wilkinson

Title: DragonKeeper
Author: Carole Wilkinson
Genre: Fantasy
Set in: China
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1 edition (April 2, 2005)
Rating: 4 out of 5

My Thoughts:
Dragonkeeper is a story set in Ancient China in the Han Dynasty. Ping is a 5-year-old slave girl in one of the forgotten castles of the Emperor. She does all the cooking and cleaning for the Imperial Dragon caretaker who is very lazy and mean to her. When the Emperor comes to the castle with his entourage to kill the dragon, she has no choice but to flee.

Since the slave girl is all she has been all her short life, she wants to go back, but the dragon takes her on a journey to the ocean where he can gain her strength back. On the way, Ping and the dragon have many adventures and I loved every minute of it.

I loved journeying through ancient China with Ping; be it visiting the Garden of secluded harmony or sailing on the yellow river. The author Carole Wilkinson weaves a fascinating and enchanting tale. Her writing can enthrall a child and an adult into ancient China and into Ping’s world. She creates characters that are both strong and vulnerable at the same time, be it the little girl or the dragon Danzi.

I cannot recommend this book enough for all the adults, kids and teens out there. I’m only too eager to read the sequel Garden of the Purple Dragon.

Awards:
Book of the year: younger readers-> The children’s book council of Australia.
Aurealis Award winner
2004 Winner: Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards
2004 shortlisted: NSW Premier’s literary Awards