I’m still looking for quotes from books to start this off… leave them in the comments or email me at mmfbooks AT gmail DOT com.

Since none of you quoted anything, or sent anything, you’re stuck with another one of mine, from The Royal Road to Romance, by Richard Haliburton, which takes place after an encounter with pirates:

As our little ship moved painfully toward her dock I was standing on deck in my shirt-sleeves beside the unfortunate American tourist who had lost most of his two hundred dollars.
“Lord, I’m hungry!” he growled at me.
“Oh, everybody’s hungry,” I replied unsympathetically. “But it’s worth it having such a jolly adventure. “
“Jolly adventure!” he gasped.
“Why, of course. I’ve never had such a good time.”
“Idiot!” he burst out.
“Fossil!” I retorted.

We’ve got a fabulous bunch of reviews this week! All the reviews can be found here.

Amira read another four, and gets this week’s most interesting use of the challenge award, with The Hunger Games (food-hunger, get it?), but she also read Persepolis, of which she said, “I’d like to think that graphic novels (this isn’t exactly a novel though, since it’s non-fiction; maybe a graphic memoir?) like this can open up new knowledge to people who might otherwise not have read anything about the Iranian revolution or a variety of other topics. I hope that many more like this are published.”

Jeska started with The Swallows of Kabul, the story about two couples in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban. She enjoyed it, though, she says, ” Yet it is not easy to read. It is tragic, the way the main characters’ lives are torn apart by the week or so the story covers. In a sense, this is a book that mourns for all of the things that were lost because of the wars Afghanistan has endured: beauty, freedom, the ability to love, Kabul itself. It is a eulogy.”

She also read News from Paraguay, a National Book Award Winner about Ella and the man she — shacks up with? partners? they never marry… — in Paraguay, who eventually becomes dictator of the country. Of the book, I’mJeska writes, “I really enjoyed reading this book, although it wasn’t necessarily due to the story. The book is written in a very interesting way – we are given brief glimpses of parts of the characters’ lives, usually in short sections that are only a handful of paragraphs or less. This makes the story feel like it is moving very quickly.”

Beth F read House of Mangoes, which dragged some for her in the middle, but in the end was an intriguing look at India’s push to self-rule. She writes, “I listened to the novel on CD (obtained through interlibrary loan), read by Robert Whitfield. I am no expert on accents, but I was particularly impressed with Whitfield’s ability to speak with an Indian accent that was believable and in no way a parody.”

April began with the catch all Eat, Pray, Love (one that’s been on my TBR for a while; why didn’t I think to use it?), and enjoyed it as much as everyone else who’s read it had. She says, “[Gilbert] is direct and honest about her experiences, and it is a book I wouldn’t mind having on my bookshelf.”

Melanie started with one of my favorites of 2007, Pomegranate Soup, and also enjoyed thoroughly it. She pointed out that a book about a struggling cafe would be one thing, but that the Iranian background gave it added depth. She also compared it to Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate. Perhaps I should delve into one of those…

Lesley highlights French Milk, which sounds like an absolutely delightful combination of graphic novel, memoir, and travelbook. She says, “Lucy and her mother make the standard Parisian excursions, as well as visiting bookshops, street merchants and cafes, but the real treat in this book is vicariously experiencing the epicurean delights that Paris has to offer.” As a lover of many things French, I have to read this one!

Tricia read another one of my favorites, 84 Charing Cross Road. She says, “A story about the true nature of kindness and love, humanity and friendship, this is well worth the hour it takes to read it. This book is a real gem. It had me both laughing and teary-eyed. I highly recommended it!” (In other words, if you haven’t read it yet… you really should!)

Becky checked in with Ten Things I Hate About Me, the story of a Lebanise girl, Jamilah, who is caught between worlds, and is struggling to find a way to fit in with the beautiful, cool people. I liked the quote she pulled out: “I wish I could talk in capital letters at school. Use exclamation makrs and highlighter pens on all my sentences. Stand out bold, italicized, and underlined. At the moment I’m a rarely used font in microscopic size with no shading or emphasis.” Sounds like an interesting character.

She also read Nefertiti, a sweeping historical fiction work about an Egyptian queen, from the perspective of her younger sister. Go check out the review, and then pop by Becky’s Book Reviews, and enter the contest to win the book.

Sandra’s giving Amira a run for her money… ; ) She checked in with four books this week. The most intriguing to me was Tomato Girl. Sandra writes, “The voice of this girl rang true for me, with all her hopes and fears. Children as protagonists or narrators in adult novels don’t always impress me as real. Ellie was exactly right.” She also has a couple contests going on for a couple of the books; check them out here and here.

I can’t wait to see what you all read next week…