New Books
"Wycliffe's home overlooks a peaceful, West Country estuary - but even here he can't get away from crime. When he is taking a Sunday morning walk along the shore, he comes across a service revolver with one chamber recently fired. In recent years Wycliffe has often regretted the fact that his rank cuts him off from the early stages of an investigation, but here he is, in at the very start. The case takes Wycliffe into the world of art robberies and crooked dealers, to a suicide which may be a murder, and a hunt for a missing yacht. As the investigation escalates, Wycliffe begins to wonder exactly where the clues are leading..."
"They did the impossible, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire.
They have barely begun when three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.
It may just be that killing the Lord Ruler was the easy part. Surviving the aftermath of his fall is going to be the real challenge."
Just Finished
"Brother Odd by Dean Koontz is the 3rd book in the Odd Thomas series. I enjoyed the first two but this one might have been the best so far.
After the events in the 2nd book, which resulted in such a tragedy for Odd (I won't get into it for those who haven't read it yet), Odd has moved from Pico Mundo to a monastery in the High Sierra. Winter is coming and Odd is looking forward to seeing his first snowfall. But it won't be a peaceful winter.
One of the monks disappears. Odd uses his unique powers to try and find Brother Timothy after the police leave and sees a 'supernatural' being of some sort. He also sees a number of Bodachs, those spiritual creatures whose appearances are a harbinger of some sort of major disaster. Odd fears for the damaged children who are cared for in the portion of the monastery used by the nuns. It is here that Odd sees the Bodachs.
Odd searches for Brother Timothy and tries to find out what the threat is. A number of children communicate with Odd; they are all unique, damaged and wonderful. There are so many wonderful characters in this story; the Russian 'librarian' Romanovich, the various nuns and monks, the dog Boo and of course, Odd's ghostly friend, Elvis Presley.
The story builds nicely as the monks work with Odd to protect the children and as Odd and Romanovich and Odd search for the source of the threat. Very thoughtful story and brought out many emotions within me. There is a satisfactory ending and it leaves you looking forward to the next Odd story. Excellent story (4.5 stars)"
"A Discovery of Witches is the first book in the All Soul's Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I ultimately enjoyed this very much but it's tome and took me about two months to get through. Now why is that? I partly blame it on the fact that I usually have 3 or 4 books on the go at one time and, this being so long, it made it easy to put down and focus on shorter books. (Not this books fault). Also I'd enjoyed the TV series very much and kind of got into a TV episode type frame of reading mind. Does that make sense? Anyway, once I took the time to focus on this book as I got over the half way point, the story picked up and I was quite drawn into it.
Enter a world of witches, vampires, demons and humans (humans as an after thought). The basic rule of this world is that never shall the various groups of supernatural beings shall stay with their own groupings. There is an oversight group of 3 of each type called the Congregation which meet to ensure the rules are followed.
Diana Bishop is a witch (one who tries to deny her powers and witchiness) who is conducting research at Oxford. Working at the Bodleian library she discovers a bewitched manuscript that only responds to her. This starts a series of events and confrontations as vampires, other witches and demons all flock to the Bodleian as they all want to discover the information in this text. Vampire Matthew Clairmont takes the lead and he and Diana begin to develop a relationship.
As Diana tries to discover her witch powers and about her family and the supernatural world, there are threats to her and Matthew. The lead warlock of the Congregation, Peter Knox, is an especial threat. Ultimately Matthew and Diana will be forced on a journey, first to Matthew's home (castle) in France, where Diana will meet Matthew's mother and her life will be threatened other witches. They will then be forced to go to the USA where Diana's aunts live. There we will see a confluence of similar supernaturals as this group will come together as a counter to the Congregation.
That is as simple a summary as I can provide without making it as long as the book itself. ;0). The story has wonderful characters (Matthew and Diana can be most irritating at times but then again, they are in the whole story, aren't they). I especially liked Ysabeau, Matthew's irascible mother, Miriam, Matthew's capable assistant, cool and competent and Sophie who shows up late in the story. It was a very entertaining story even though it left us knowing that we will have to read the 2nd book to see what happens next. But it still was a satisfying ending. Now to take a breath with some shorter books (4 stars)"
"I've enjoyed a few of George Orwell's novels over the past years; the classics like Animal Farm and 1984 and also Down and Out in Paris and London and Burmese Days. He's an intelligent writer and takes a hard look at social conditions. A Clergyman's Daughter was his 2nd fiction novel of six, originally published in 1935. In many ways it's very depressing but at the same time it's a fascinating portrait of surviving severe poverty and a look at life in that era of London.
Dorothy is the daughter of a local clergyman, living in the country outside of London. She is dissatisfied with her life and even her faith. Her days are a struggle to fend off local businesses as her father runs up bills and pays only a minimal. She spends her time going around the community on her bike, trying to convince her community to attend her father's services, as he is an ornery, impatient man. She spends her time trying to raise funds for the church, to pay for needed repairs. At the same time she fends off advances from a local man, a bit of a local scoundrel.
One night as she works late making costumes for an upcoming fete, boiling glue, sewing; exhausted and starving, something happens. While it's not really explained (it just happens), I sort of wonder if it has something to do with glue fumes. At any rate, the story jumps to London and Dorothy is lost, wandering, suffering from amnesia. This begins a fascinating story of the next phase of her life. As Dorothy struggles with her amnesia, she finds herself picking hops out in the country, starving, exhausted. Her situation will change as she recovers from her amnesia but her story will not improve as she moves on to another location and job. It's a fascinating portrait of her life.
The story is depressing in many ways. Dorothy's life is unsatisfying at the beginning and gets worse as she shifts locations and lives. But there is also an optimism as Dorothy tries to improve things or make the most of her situation; not always successfully. Don't expect happiness or joy but there is a process of learning and even as the story ends, Dorothy gets on with her life. It's not light reading so if you want that, this might not be the story for you. But if you want to see a look at life that y0u don't live, a life of poverty and how people cope with it or not, it's worth reading. (4 stars)"
Just Starting
"In this seventh installment in the internationally bestselling, universally beloved series, there is considerable excitement at the shared premises of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.
A cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe’s office. Then a nurse from a local medical clinic reveals to Mma Ramotswe that faulty blood-pressure readings are being recorded there. And it looks as though Aunty Emang, the advice columnist in the local newspaper, may not be what she seems.
It all means a lot of work for Mma Ramotswe and her inestimable assistant, Grace Makutsi, and they are, of course, up to the challenge. But there’s trouble brewing in Mma Makutsi’s own life. Her greedy uncles are demanding an extra-large bride price from her well-to-do fiancé, a man of substance, Phuti Radiphuti, and though money may buy her that fashionably narrow (and uncomfortable) pair of blue shoes, it won’t buy her the happiness that Mma Ramotswe promises her she’ll find in simpler things – in contentment with the world and enough tea to smooth over the occasional bumps in the road."
"Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, delicious meals, vendetta firepower, and carefully planted false clues, Inspector Salvo Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter."
"Insurance salesman George "Fatty" Bowling lives with his humorless wife and their two irritating children in a dull house in a tract development in the history-less London suburb of West Bletchley. The year is 1938; doomsayers are declaring that England will be at war again by 1941.
When George bets on an unlikely horse and wins, he finds himself with a little extra cash on his hands. What should he spend it on? "The alternatives, it seemed to me, were either a week-end with a woman or dribbling it quietly away on odds and ends such as cigars and double whiskeys." But a chance encounter with a poster in Charing Cross sets him off on a tremendous journey into his own memories--memories, especially, of a boyhood spent in Lower Binfield, the country village where he grew up. His recollections are pungent and detailed. Touch by touch, he paints for us a whole world that is already nearly lost: a world not yet ruled by the fear of war and not yet blighted by war's aftermath:
'1913! My God! 1913! The stillness, the green water, the rushing of the weir! It'll never come again. I don't mean that 1913 will never come again. I mean the feeling inside you, the feeling of not being in a hurry and not being frightened, the feeling you've either had and don't need to be told about, or haven't had and won't ever have the chance to learn. '
Alas, George finds that even Lower Binfield has been darkened by the bomber's shadow."
Have a great, safe weekend. Read a good book!
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