Reading a book that won both the Orange Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award inevitably gave me a high set of expectations. A little bit of research got me to the Wikipedia page where I was told that Ann Patchett based her book on the Lima Crisis in Peru, - where a bunch of terrorists from MRTA took hostage hundreds of high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party at the official residence of Japan’s ambassador to Peru, Morihisha Aoki, in celebration of Emperor Akihito’s 63rd birthday. So far so good. A prize-winning book with a promise of thrill based on a true events. I really could not ask for more.

True enough. The first several pages gripped me strongly with its detailed staging in preparation of the siege scene itself. This is great because not many writers would do such thing ...

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• March 5, 2009
• Bel Canto
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Rather a difficult book, to say the least, but wonderful. It's a rich tapestry of a chinese folklore and culture that points to a biggest problem there is : the search to understand self.

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• March 5, 2009
• Soul Mountain
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