Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

This book tells the story of Willow, a 12 year old genius with a passion for gardening. The themes explored include, what it means to be different, what constitutes family, personal growth, and how life can change in an instant. 

I would have preferred the story without quite so much giftedness! It made Willow less believable as a character and suggested that people were helping her because they had something to gain, rather than simply showing compassion. 

Other characters include:

Dell Duke - a lacklustre counsellor. Willow is asked to meet with Dell after she gets 100% in a standardised test and the principal assumes she cheated. 

Mai & Quang-ha Nguyen - teenage clients of Dell Duke. 

Pattie Nguyen - mother of Mai and Quang-ha. Pattie is a smart single mum from Vietnam, who runs a nail salon and lives in a garage.

Jairo Hernandez - a taxi driver that Willow befriends.

** SPOILERS **

Some questions for discussion:

Was Pattie right to save her money and live in a garage?

How credible is Willow's intelligence? Would it really be possible to pick up Vietnamese in 12 months? Would she really want to pick up a book on astrophysics? 

In what ways was Dell Duke a good social worker?

What effect did meeting Willow have on Mai, Pattie, Jairo, Dell, Quang-ha? In what way did they change?

Other than being smart, how else would you describe Willow's personality? Use evidence from the book to support this. 

Adultery by Paulo Coelho

I spotted this novel in a bookshop and was surprised that the author of The Alchemist appeared to be writing 'chick lit'. I was just starting to prepare for two weeks of exams, so I bought it as a bit of a treat to read when I finished them. I read it in a day and a half.

The book tells the story of Linda who is a thirty something, rich, bored, Swiss journalist and mother. She has a fling with an old school mate. There's not a huge amount of plot; most of the book is Linda's inner thoughts. Sex scenes are interspersed with quotes from the Bible, ramblings about love and jealousy, and some sound advice.

Coelho does a good job of getting into a woman's head in all but the sex scenes. Having knelt down and performed oral sex on her boyfriend Linda thinks, "the fact is, it was better for me than him". Really?!

Overall the book is very much 'of its time'. It looks at how people search for meaning and happiness in all the wrong places and have little concern for anyone but themselves."He put me on all fours like a dog" is on one page, and on the next, "to love abundantly is to live abundantly. To love forever is to live forever. Eternal life is coupled with Love."