The Book Chubi

Wanderlust: Your Reading Guide to... Uganda, Africa If you have never been on an African safari before, start planning your trip now! First, flight deals to East Africa are popping up constantly and second, this is an amazing bucket list destination that you cannot miss out on. I recommend using a travel agent that specializes in African safaris, like Extraordinary Africa  which is based in the UK but arranges travel for international clients as well. Alex was our travel agent and set us up for absolute success on our adventure. Uganda is a large land locked country which hosts the source of the Nile, a must see on your journey. In many East Africa countries you may have one or two base camps from which you depart for daily safaris. Instead, in Uganda it is beneficial to take a tour around the entire country. We traveled to Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, and Lake Mburo during our whirlwind tour of Uganda. Elephants, giraffes, hippos (oh so many hip...

A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee Novels like A State of Freedom allow readers an intimate glance into cultures and class that they would otherwise be unlikely to experience. Set in India, Mukherjee explores the lives of five individuals who attempt to change their lives for the better. The challenges they face and their success or failure are on stark display as we journey with them throughout their lives.  This novel is set up as a collection of short stories. Each section centers on a different character and has a writing style tied to their personality. This can be jarring if you aren't expecting it since Part I and Part II, for example, not only have an entirely different set of characters, but are also written with different tones and narrative styles that seem very disconnected from each other. It is only when you start to compare the commonalities of the various tales in theme and message that you really feel the weight of the stories as a cohesive whole...

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Stripped down to its most basic core you might call Exit West a relationship story. The central plot revolves around a young man and young woman in a poor country. What makes the novel so enticing is everything else happening around them throughout the novel.  You have to call Exit West a refugee story as well. As the young man and young woman start a new relationship their country is starting to be ravaged by war. So as many young people do in times of unrest where they live, where opportunities are limited and the risk of death so high, the young couple leaves for an unknown place that might improve upon their situation. Where they go and what they find is what made this novel thought-provoking. It felt like living the news headlines in person, which Hamid cleverly touches on in a scene where the young woman sees an article about the refugee crisis with a picture she is startled to recognize as herself. If you have read about Greece a...

Happy International Women's Day! To celebrate I've been glancing through some of my favorite books written by women. There are so many that it would be impossible to make an exhaustive list. Especially since there are so many that will be favorites (I'm positive) once I get a chance to read them! But there are quite a few I can share to give you a jumping off point if you need some more female power in your life. To start, check out my recent reviews of Chloe Benjamin , Margaret Atwood , Rachel Lyon , and Jesmyn Ward . These women all have strong plot driven novels that will keep you enthralled to the last page. If you love a little romance mixed with a splash of sci-fi you will be in luck with Audrey Niffenegger's bestseller novel The Time Traveler's Wife . This novel is so popular with my husband and I that we featured it in our wedding with a quote on our bookmark favors. "R ight now we are here, and nothing can mar our perfection, or ...

Adapted from Book to Movie: Annihilation If you are the scientific type, someone who loves the beauty of biology, and appreciates a touch of science fiction blended in to the mix, then this is the movie for you. The movie has some visually stunning moments. Watching cells divide in some of the interstitial moments is captivating and the landscapes inside Area X were beautifully rendered. While the movie has interesting moments throughout I caution devoted readers to expect the novel to be accurately portrayed. In fact, I would call this more of an "inspired by" rather than "adapted from" movie. Annihilation is a novel written by Jeff Vandermeer which explores how biology and psychology can turn against us. The plot centers around an uninhabitable place known as Area X. Expeditions have been attempting to explore and gather data from this region, but thus far no one has returned. This story follows the latest group of researchers, all women, who are...