Welcome to Triple Choice Tuesday, an ad-hoc series I kicked off in 2010 which has been on hiatus for several years — but has now returned for 2024. This is where I ask some of my favourite bloggers, writers and readers to share the names of three books that mean a lot to them. The idea is that it might raise the profile of certain books and introduce you to new titles, new authors and new bloggers. If you’d like to take part simply visit this post and fill in the form!
Today’s guest is Davida Chazan, who blogs at The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog
Davida describes herself as a “66-year-old retired widow who is mildly dyslexic and still loves to read! When I’m not reading or working on my blog, I’m baking bread, making ice cream, and most recently, learning pottery!”
Without further ado, here are Davida’s choices:
A favourite book: ‘The English Patient’ by Michael Ondaatje
To this day, I can’t recall any other book that blew me away with its lyrical beauty as much as this one. I’m actually so in awe of it, I’ve never dared to write a review! I’m sure people know the story, about a partly bombed-out building, in France, which had been used as a hospital, but now has only one patient, a pilot who has burns over most of his body. The woman caring for him is joined by two others, in a strange triangle of characters.
A book that changed my world: ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe
I read this in High School when Apartheid was still practised in South Africa. From this book, I learned of the cruelty of colonisation and to accept others for the type of person they are and to not judge them on their beliefs, practices or cultural differences. It also taught me that “different” doesn’t mean “bad”; it just means it’s not what I am accustomed to, and it is wonderful to learn about and respect other people, other cultures and other practices.
A book that deserves a wider audience: ‘The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt’ by Andrea Bobotis
When I read this debut novel just before it was published, I was so impressed with not only the writing but also the cleverness of both the plot and the structure. But hardly anyone else I know has read it, although I see it has gotten a good number of reviews on Goodreads, but not nearly enough, if you ask me. Maybe if more people read it and reviewed it, the author would be more motivated to publish a second novel!
Thanks, Davida, for taking part in my Triple Choice Tuesday. I admit to struggling with The English Patient when I tried to read it in the early 1990s, but I **adore** the film. I haven’t read Things Fall Apart although it’s been in my TBR for many years, and I’ve not heard of The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.
What do you think of Davida’s choices? Have you read any of these books?
Reading Matters 
Great choices Davida … I know the first two, and your third choice is perfect as I don’t know it!!
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I have a whole list of books that I think deserve a wider audience, but this one stands out because a) it was a debut novel, and b) because it not only got 5/5 stars from me, but became my favorite book of the year! That’s a rare occurrence indeed.
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How nice to ‘meet’ Davida this way, we chat sometimes on and off blog!
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One of my children is ‘mildly dyslexic’, makes for interesting writing! I wasn’t so impressed by The English Patient; have only recently read my first Achebe, his second, No Longer at Ease, which I enjoyed; The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt I will now go and look up.
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I hope you do… Judith Kratt is one of my all time favorites (and it was a debut novel)!
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I’ll check out Miss Kratt 🙂
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I hope you do. I think you’ll enjoy it.
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Miss Kratt sound interesting – thanks for bringing her to our attention Davida.
I confess that I preferred the movie of The English Patient to the book and I’ve been meaning to read Things Fall Apart for years. So many friends and colleagues have recommended it to me, I’m beginning to feel bad I haven’t done so yet!
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I get it, not every book is for everyone, and many people preferred the film to the book, mostly because of how poetic it was written. But Judith Kratt… I think you’ll love it!
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I’ve read more Ondaatje since The English Patient, and I’ve often wondered if I would appreciate it more if I tried to read it again. Ohhh to have to time to do nothing but read 😀
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I nearly made the same comment about The English patient, Brona, but it’s so long ago that I couldn’t be 100% sure of my memory.
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First, thanks for asking me to participate. Second, I’m thrilled that I can help promote Andrea’s book. It seldom happens that a debut novel gets a resounding 5/5 stars from me AND ends up being my #1 favorite of that year, but that’s what happened with Judith Kratt!
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It’s good to ‘meet’ you properly, Davida! And I don’t know this apparently under-read book by Andrea Bobotis either, so this post seems to have done its job, as I’m evidently not the only one. But I too preferred the film of The English Patient to the book. Still, the film wouldn’t have happened without the book …
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Lovely post – thanks Davida and Kim!
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I’ve read the first two choices and agree they are very powerful reads. I’ve never heard of Miss Kratt so I’m off to investigate further. Also I completely understand about not blogging on the books you adore – it feels overwhelming! But I usually just witter on anyway 😀
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