Jen Shaw's Page

A few months ago I read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and I have just got around to reviewing it. I thought this book was so interesting and so enjoyable and I loved entering into a completely unknown world. It is all narrated by the main character, Sayuri, as we follow the story of when she was taken from her home as a nine year old girl called Sayuri and sold into slavery in a okiya in Gion, the… Continue

Empress Orchid by Anchee Min follows the life of Orchid (or Cixi in Chinese) who was the last Empress of China. This is a true story about a seemingly misunderstood woman who has been documented a little unfairly throughout history as a nasty, unhinged woman. Empress Orchid, however, portrays her in a very different light. Here she is simply a girl who is trying to provide for her family but her whole life will… Continue

As you can see from previous blog posts I''ve been writing book reviews recently and I'm trying to build up a huge collection of them. I don't have that many yet but I have started an index so that it is easy for people to look through them and pick what they want to read. I also want people to give me recommendations or requests which I will do my best to keep up with, even though I'm currently massively behind on writing… Continue

Life of Pi has been on my reading list for a long time and last week I finally got around to reading it. I had heard a lot about it, including many positive reviews and was aware that it had won the Booker Prize. Without being one of the best books I've ever read, I think it's certainly going to be one of the most memorable. It is the story of sixteen year old Pi who ends up marooned on a lifeboat in the middle of… Continue