Friday Memes and 'Love and Treasure' by Ayelet Waldman

Another Friday and the first week of my last term as an undergraduate has come to an end. I love the new modules I am doing and to my shock and horror I am even enjoying Paradise Lost. So, let's crack on with the memes, shall we? Follow Friday is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. This week's question was suggested by The Realm of Books:

Hard print (real thing) or Kindle/Nook, which is your favourite?

Oh God, this is a really hard question. Like most readers I am a sucker for a beautiful hardcover since they are simply fabulous. However, paperbacks aren't always as nice so if it's a choice between those two I'd always go for a hardcover. But that's not the question! I absolutely love my Kindle. It is like the baby I haven't had yet! It goes where I go and if it is having trouble, like it currently is (why won't it connect to the wifi?!) I get irrationally upset. Because I am moving a lot at the moment my Kindle is a lifesaver because I simply cannot move all the books every single time. Books are heavy and take up a lot of space, which I simply don't have at the moment. So a purely rational answer is that my Kindle is currently my favourite. However, there will never come a day on which I will say no to a good hard print book.

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer and this week's question was suggested by Elizabeth over at Silver's Reviews:

Do you ever get comments from authors when you have posted or tweeted your review?

It happens sometimes, in which case I am excited for the rest of the week. A lot of the books I read are classics though and the chance of John Milton coming out of the grave and getting onto the internet to comment on my thoughts about Paradise Lost is slim. However, when it does happen it is usually independent authors who self-published because they tend to be a lot more connected with the reviewers than authors at big publishing houses. On Twitter they tend to respond to my Tweets about the review, but I doubt they have the time to stop by and comment on everyone who reviews their books.

Book Beginning and Friday 56 are hosted by Gillion over at Rose City Reader and Freda at Freda's Voice respectively. This week I'm featuring a book I am currently reading, Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman, which is absolutely beautiful, if heart-breaking as well.

In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.

The blurb is longer, but I don't want it to give anything away! So onto the teasers.

BB:

'Jack Wiseman, immersed as ever in the pages of a book, did not notice the arrival of the bus until alerted by the stir among the other people waiting in the overheated station lounge.' p.1

I really like the beginning because I think it is a situation most readers can recognize. When haven't we pulled out a book to pass the time and gotten completely absorbed in the reading?

F56:

'" I'm sorry"."Stop apologising!"He started to apologise for that, too, but caught himself just in time."I like you very much, Ilona. Not only because you're beautiful, but...""Shh," she said, squeezing his arm. "You don't know, Jack. I am not good for you." p.56

I really like how the relationship between Jack and Ilona is developing and especially how Waldman allows the direct aftermath of WW2 to influence them while not letting it overtake the simpleness of two people liking each other.

So, how about you?