Hooked On Bookz

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Title:  The Great Believers   Author:  Rebecca Makkai My verdict:  3.5 stars In a nutshell: The Great Believers was set in two places – Chicago and Paris, portraying a group of gay friends, mainly focussing on Yale (whom I love and could relate to when he spoke of his childhood) living through the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 80's; and Fiona in search of her daughter, Claire, in Paris year 2015. These stories moved back and forth throughout the book. What I liked: I cried myself to sleep the night I finished The Great Believers. It's a story of loss, love and redemption. I was especially drawn to the story that shed light on the challenges of American gay men living with AIDS in the late 80's and early 90's, and how ignorance had caused thousands of lives.  I felt their heartbreaks and devastating loss of their loved ones and their own lives to AIDS, especially Fiona. She gave, and gave, and gave, and lost. And the ending was a tear jer...

Title: Circe Author: Madeline Miller My verdict: 5 stars  Highly recommended! (Only if you're interested in Greek mythology!) In a nutshell: (Amazon) In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power--the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted...

Title:  The Master & Margarita Author:  Mikhail Bulgakov My verdict:   5 stars Highly recommended! In a nutshell:   This classic was written during Stalin's regime and was banned until many years after Bulgakov's death. The Master and Margarita (TMM) alternates between 2 settings - Moscow in the 1930's and Jerusalem; and it's divided to 2 parts. Woland (Satan) and his motley crew of 4 (Koroviev, Behemoth, Azazello, Hella) appeared on earth (in this case, in Russia), and brought people whom, in his eyes, have sinned, to justice by punishing them, some to death (in the most gruesome way one could imagine.. *cue intensifying sound effect!), and at the same time gave peace to two lovers - the Master and Margarita. And Margarita, knowing Woland is Satan, worshipped him, for he brought the master back to her and reunited them. This novel also brings us back to 2000 years ago, in Yershalaim (Jerusalem), where and when Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus) was cr...