Rembrandt Affair

Every night before bed, I read for at least a half an hour. I have done this basically since I could read. When I was little it was much more exhilarating-- I would hide under my covers with a flashlight so my parents wouldn't know I was cheating bed time. Somehow the adventures of the babysitters club always seemed more exciting past bedtime. Now that I'm the one in charge of my bedtime, I still find myself pushing the limits on occasion, when a book is so good, I just can't bare to be a responsible adult.

Since reading is such an important part of my life, it was a somewhat shocking revelation for me that I had never once shared a book with Tim. He reads less frequently than I do, but when he is visiting his parents in Tucson, he goes on mega reading-binges. Over the last few years, he has talked non-stop about a few authors. Finally, I asked him to recommend a book by one of these authors to me to read. So, he gave me his favorite book by Daniel Silva-- The Rembrandt Affair.

This book reminded me of a Dan Brown novel, only with better writing. In other words, every chapter was a cliff-hanger, the story took the reader all over the world, and never allowed for boredom.

The protagonist of this novel (who is apparently a recurring character for Silva) is an Israeli intelligence officer and art restorer (odd combination, but it works) named Gabriel. He combines his two careers as he tracks down a missing Rembrandt painting. He quickly finds that the painting's history was tainted with horrible tragedies. The rightful owner of the piece of art was a Jewish man in the Netherlands in the 1940's who was coerced into selling his painting to a Nazi officer in order to save his daughter's life. Uncovering more WWII atrocities led Gabriel and his colleagues to discover that a very powerful Swiss banker (nicknamed Saint Martin for his public image as a philanthropist) has been benefiting from the stolen goods of Jews since the war-- and that isn't where his treacherous deeds end.

This book was really fun to read and I think it had something for everyone-- there was plenty of action, there was mystery, and for me, there was a trip around the world and incredible artwork. I enjoyed the book and would definitely read something by Silva again. Most of all, it was fun to share a book with Tim. Discussing where I was in the story and what I thought of characters was great. Hopefully this is something we can repeat in the future.

on my shelf

April's book club pick has been chosen by Tana-- she selected The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm only 80 pages in, but loving it!I am also reading Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, and per the recommendation of Timmy, The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva.

Hopefully announcing that I am reading these books will encourage me to 1) read them and 2) blog about it!

Next Sunday is the meeting for Halley's selection The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman and I cannot wait!