What I’m reading

ZAHEERA JINA holds a PhD in mathematics education from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. She is also the co-editor, compiler and contributor to the recently launched

She lives in Lenasia with her husband, sons and many in-laws. I AM a member of the Armchairs Book Club and Bookworms on Facebook and a few people recently recommended the novel titled The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak. I visit the local library on a weekly basis and I was really excited when I came across the title… so I figured that it was meant to be and it was.

I loved this book; I took my time to read it as I wanted to savour the detailed descriptions. The book tells the tale of two families – one Turkish and one Armenian, and how they were united through culture and unfortunate history. The book is crammed with all sorts of weird and wonderful characters and weaves a connected story which made me draw family trees to fully understand the relationships between the many characters. I felt that the ending was truly unpredictable, and I felt sad when the book ended – a sign of a good read for sure.

Before that, I read the bestseller Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The book tells of a marriage gone completely wrong. The book is a nervefraying thriller which not only kept me gripped to the end, but also left me feeling immensely disturbed. This book was not my idea of an excellent read and I do not advise that anybody read it on holiday. Next on my list is Tracy Farrens’ Whiplash.