The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“It may happen that you will hate a thing which is better for you.”
The Yacoubian Building is about a residential building in Cairo and the people connected with it. We rotate through different stories focused on one or more of these characters and sometimes they interweave with other storylines. There is a list of main characters in the front of the book, which I found myself utilizing quite a bit. It is told from the 3rd person perspective, and we get to know all that is going on internally and externally. It takes place around the 1990s and there is a lot going on. In this book you will find religion, sex, greed, family, homosexuality, and many other divergent topics. It encompasses a wide array of things and gives us a glimpse into what life might have looked like. It is a real time piece.
Alaa Al Aswany is the author of this novel and he is quite the writer. His detailed descriptions really allow you to paint a vivid image in your head. He has some real talent with this. And it doesn’t go on for days either like Hemingway. Everything he puts down on paper has relevance and allows the reader to get to know the characters in depth. It shows the environment they are living in and their history and motives and why they are the way they are. He can create an amazing sense of place and mood. There is a lot of sex in this book and a lot of describing people in sexual terms. The way the bodies are detailed, the words people use, or the actual sex scenes are numerous. I liked the words he chose to use too. There were just enough words that I had to look up and ones that I loved pronouncing out loud like, abrogate and disputatiousness. I enjoyed how they sounded on my tongue and learning new words. It was sad what people had to go through and how they treated each other. People suffered…”This country doesn’t belong to us, Taha. It belongs to the people who have money.” Unfortunately, this is still true in a lot of ways and places. It really touches on corruption within people and institutions and society. It really showed the worst of people. This had a direct impact on my views of characters. At one point I would be on their side and then later I would totally despise them. One thing I didn’t enjoy was trying to keep track of everyone and where we were in their stories. I had to rely on the list of characters at the front to remember who was who and what was previously revealed about them. This book also talked a lot about religion and it got to be too much for me. I cannot relate at all and I just did not get it. I enjoyed this novel and I think others will as well. It is very well written and it is truly thoughtful. This is exactly the type of book that I would love to look back on for inspiration on writing descriptions.
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Tag: sex
Best Friends Discover Love And Sultry Scenes Of Sex
Him by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Good thing he’s not a traffic cop, because he’s sending enough mixed signals to cause a ten-car pileup.”
Him is about two friends who meet at hockey camp and become friends. They made a bet on a shootout which caused one to cut the other off for years. Now a chance encounter at the Frozen Four brings them back into each other’s lives. They quickly become friends again and have six weeks to figure out what is going on between them. They are coaching teenagers to improve their hockey skills while navigating their own relationship. One is on his way to Toronto to play in the NHL and one is supposed to be headed for Detroit. This is a fun will they/won’t they book that keeps you enthralled from beginning to end.
I plowed through this book in a single day. I kept wanting to read more and more. There were plenty of hot scenes. It was well written, and this is the second gay romance I have read recently written by two female authors. I don’t know how they do it but they do an excellent job at describing things in a way that makes you feel like you are the one participating. One thing that I found myself doing throughout though, is trying to keep track of which name belonged to which character. I wrote it down but I still found myself flipping back to when the chapter started to remember if it was Wes or Jamie. Wes was the forward and Jamie was the goalie. Wes is gay and Jamie is straight. Wes has tattoos and breaks rules. Jamie has a huge family and loves coaching. The difference between each of their families is vast and it makes you feel for each of them. I loved how the book was written from both viewpoints, and it really helped to build the tension and see it from each perspective. The sex scenes were very sultry and provocative. I found myself frustrated at times with each of them and wanted them to just get over their hangups. I kept putting it down needing to move on to do something else but I found myself reaching for the book again and again so I can see what happens. I bet you could easily finish this in a single day. I cannot wait to read the next one.
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