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A Narrow Door
A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris. OrangeSky Audio It’s the beginning of a new school year at St. Oswald’s Academy and the way of things has changed considerably. Roy Straitley, the long-standing master of Latin is still there but the latest change might be a step too far. The school now admits girls and the new headmaster is a woman, Rebecca Buckfast. Straitley’s Brody boys come to see him the day before classes begin and report having found a body on the site of the new swimming facility that is under construction. After a number of scandals in recent years, Straitly is reluctant to report this incident but goes to…
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At ease
Last year I got heavily into doing lots of reviews for various websites and got rather bogged down with books. Part of this was due to long delays in responses to book requests. Part of it was due to taking on way too many books. At one point I think I had something like 22 books on my list at Netgalley. Currently, it’s down to just one book and my reading schedule is freed up. This year I think I will be more selective on books to review. My intention was to review more than just upcoming and recently released books and perhaps this year it will work out a…
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Klara and the Sun
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Penguin Random House Klara is an AF, or artificial friend, who is waiting to be chosen by a child or teenager. She sits in her store and takes in the world as she sees it, learning more and more as time passes. Eventually, Klara is chosen by Josie and goes home with her. Her “life” is much changed with Josie and much of it revolves around how unwell Josie is. I really enjoyed much of the first part of the book. Klara had a charming innocence about her along with a desire to learn so much. The latter parts were not as appealing…
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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka. Pantheon “Chronicle from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth” is a scathing satire of a fictionalised modern Nigeria. There is a plot to this lengthy work but it takes quite a while before we have any understanding of it. The writer takes us on a journey into scenes from a variety of characters, from Papa Davina, a modern-day charlatan of a religious leader, to Sir Goddie, a prime minister whose main objective is to make sure he’s elected for another term, to Dr. Menka and Duyole Pitan-Payne, two members of a gang of four from…
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Call of the Penguins
Call of the Penguins by Hazel Prior. Random House UK Veronica McCreedy is 87 years old and can claim the joy of having visited and come to know the adelie penguins when she visited the Antarctic. One might think that would be enough for her but then she is invited to present some segments of a wildlife documentary on penguins by a famous conservationist. This requires travel to both Australia and the Falkland Islands to perform her duties. During the course of this experience, she learns a lot more about humans as she continues to focus on her love of penguins. Along for the ride are grandson Patrick, nine-year-old cancer…
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Crown of Cinders
Crown of Cinders by Emily R. King. 47North Althea has just learned she and her sisters are not mortals but daughters of Cronus and goddesses at the end of the first book in the series, ” Wings of Fury”. As this book opens, plans are being made to aid Zeus and their siblings in taking down their father. Althea, or Hera, her true name, must journey to seek out two more brothers, and this will eventually find her traveling through the underworld and will require great strength from her. Finally, she will use all her power and ability in order to make sure she and her siblings and allies succeed…
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Neanderthal
Neanderthal by Avery Flynn. Entangled Publishing Kinsey has graduated and is off to Harbour City to start her dream job as a junior research chemist for a perfume maker. It just happens that she’s been an online friend to Morgan for years and guess where Morgan lives? Anyway, due to a lack of suitable affordable apartments, Morgan invites Kinsey to be her roommate. And that’s how she meets Morgan’s brother Griff, a bit of a silent type who mostly communicates in grunts. By the way, Griff is head of research and development at the competition to her new company. Nothing can go wrong there, right? The setup is pretty good…
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Betrayal on the Bowery
Betrayal on the Bowery by Kate Belli. Crooked Lane Books In the second installment of Gilded Gotham Mysteries, Genevieve and Daniel team up to solve another murder. Daniel’s friend Rupert has just gotten married and is set to go on his honeymoon when a dead man is found in their cabin on an ocean liner. Rupert is soon accused of murder as the dead man was acquainted with his new wife. The sleuthing pair get into all sorts of difficulty as they seek out the culprit. I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was happy to have the opportunity to read this one too. Genevieve and Daniel…
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niefenegger. I’ve been hearing about this book for years and saw the audiobook and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, this one just doesn’t work for me and I stopped pretty early on in the story. I found it didn’t make a lot of sense a lot of the time and I didn’t warm to the characters at all. There is also an incidence of cheating that comes up quite early that turned me against Henry’s character. The narrators were okay, I think. I wasn’t that keen on the female voice but I imagine I might have become accustomed to it further along.…
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The Alchemist
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Santiago is a shepherd who is happy with his life. But he’s been having a recurring dream and when he seeks answers to its meaning, he is sent off on a life journey to discover his “Personal Legend” and this takes him to from Spain to Egypt. The story is supposed to be some sort of parable full of life lessons. This is another of those books I’ve heard about for many years and is supposed to be a modern classic. The blurb didn’t really interest me that much but I thought perhaps it would move me in some way if I read it. Unfortunately,…