Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
This is a story of a man without a past, rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by some fishermen. He is very ill, and his body has suffered the impact of many bullets. The man is taken by the fishermen to a doctor in a nearby island, who helps him to recover physically and mentally. Our protagonist doesn't remember who he is, but with the help of the doctor he finds some clues he doesn't like too much. He only knows for certain some things, for instance that his face has been altered by plastic surgery, that he knows a lot about firearms and that he carried on him a microfilm that contains the code to an account of four million dollars.
In the Swiss bank where the account is he also finds a name: Jason Bourne. But... is he Jason Bourne?. He cannot remember, and if it were for quite a few people, he won't. From the moment he leaves the island onwards, our man without a past will be followed, and attacked. He doesn't understand why, but he reacts in order to stay alive. Add to this already interesting mixture a woman he takes as a hostage, Marie, a number of assasins (including the most famous assassin in the world, Carlos), and the possibility that he is an assassin. The main character will be hunted all throughout the book not only by the "bad guys", but also by the "good" ones (mainly agents from the USA Government).
You won't be able to stop reading this book, and you will find yourself asking aloud to nobody in particular "who on earth is this man?" and "what started this whole mess"?.
I read this back in the 1980's and with the movies coming out decided I should re-read and see if enjoyed it as much as I did back then. The only bad side is that the technology is obiously dated as who would have a piece of microfilm inserted under the skin when we have tiny microchips. Of course in 20 years that will seem dated. But I really enjoyed the ride and love the movies. I need to read the rest over the summer.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
A classic suspenseful read from my past. I vaguely remember reading this when I was in high school so really enjoyed reading this again.
Miss Lucy Pym is spending the weekend at an all girls school, Leys Physical Training College. She was pleased and flattered to be invited to give a psychology lecture there. She is quickly swept into the life of the young girls by being invited to parties and walks on the grounds. There is much anticipation as the girls wait for the various awards and scholarships to be announced. When a sullen, unpopular girl is awarded a valuable scholarship, instead of the candidate favored by their classmates and teachers no one is sure what to think. But when the former is found "accidentally" dead under suspicious circumstances, Miss Pym is drawn involuntarily into helping to solve the mystery. Her analysis of who could have done it -- psychologically as well as physically -- is fascinating and logical.
The conclusion is stunning: Miss Pym discovers that her own desire to do "the right thing" is not all that different from the murderer's motives, and the results were no less devastating. The basis of the mystery novel, as a genre, is moral -- find out and punish wrongdoing -- but this is much more morally complex and will leave you thinking.
A classic suspenseful read from my past. I vaguely remember reading this when I was in high school so really enjoyed reading this again.
Miss Lucy Pym is spending the weekend at an all girls school, Leys Physical Training College. She was pleased and flattered to be invited to give a psychology lecture there. She is quickly swept into the life of the young girls by being invited to parties and walks on the grounds. There is much anticipation as the girls wait for the various awards and scholarships to be announced. When a sullen, unpopular girl is awarded a valuable scholarship, instead of the candidate favored by their classmates and teachers no one is sure what to think. But when the former is found "accidentally" dead under suspicious circumstances, Miss Pym is drawn involuntarily into helping to solve the mystery. Her analysis of who could have done it -- psychologically as well as physically -- is fascinating and logical.
The conclusion is stunning: Miss Pym discovers that her own desire to do "the right thing" is not all that different from the murderer's motives, and the results were no less devastating. The basis of the mystery novel, as a genre, is moral -- find out and punish wrongdoing -- but this is much more morally complex and will leave you thinking.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman
Tess Monaghan series - book 4
When Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan receives an envelope postmarked Boerne, Tex., containing a photo of Crow, her former musician boyfriend, and a scrap of newspaper headline reading "in big trouble," a day's outing to visit Crow's parents in Charlottesville which turns into a road trip to Texas. Tough and street savvy in her hometown, the former reporter feels lost in the land of the Alamo. Crow seems to have disappeared with a mysterious blonde singer, and as Tess searches for them, she encounters a wall of family secrets behind which may lie the reason for the body count rising around her.
This is a complex plot about relationships. Crow has left Tess and taken his band (Poe White Trash) to Texas. Now his parents contact Tess because he is no longer in contact and they are worried. Tess has also received a message with an indication that he is in trouble. The search should be simple. She has a recent photo and is looking for a performing musician. But the trail is initially cold, and things are complicated by Tess finding an overripe body, someone of interest to the police in connection with a cold case from 20 years earlier. Tess loses her lunch and decides that she will never eat another Moon Pie.
Tess eventually tracks down Crow, playing at local clubs with a new band, but it drawn into the cold case which involves the new woman in Crow's life. There is a complex web of relationships related to the woman's family and dating back to a triple murder 20 years earlier. Tess finds a second overripe body, also a man of interest to the local police. There are a few surprises as the novel moves towards a climax. There are questions about a past kidnapping, and questions about who was responsible for the various murders. And there are questions about motives including sex, money, and revenge.
Lippman does an excellent job at making you feel that you are in San Antonio and other Texas areas. As someone who lived in Houston for a few years I always feel rather nostalgic when it comes to books set in Texas. While feeling lost and lonely in Texas as nothing is familiar Tess quickly finds her niche there. She is a likeable character who I always enjoy reading her latest adventure.
Tess Monaghan series - book 4
When Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan receives an envelope postmarked Boerne, Tex., containing a photo of Crow, her former musician boyfriend, and a scrap of newspaper headline reading "in big trouble," a day's outing to visit Crow's parents in Charlottesville which turns into a road trip to Texas. Tough and street savvy in her hometown, the former reporter feels lost in the land of the Alamo. Crow seems to have disappeared with a mysterious blonde singer, and as Tess searches for them, she encounters a wall of family secrets behind which may lie the reason for the body count rising around her.
This is a complex plot about relationships. Crow has left Tess and taken his band (Poe White Trash) to Texas. Now his parents contact Tess because he is no longer in contact and they are worried. Tess has also received a message with an indication that he is in trouble. The search should be simple. She has a recent photo and is looking for a performing musician. But the trail is initially cold, and things are complicated by Tess finding an overripe body, someone of interest to the police in connection with a cold case from 20 years earlier. Tess loses her lunch and decides that she will never eat another Moon Pie.
Tess eventually tracks down Crow, playing at local clubs with a new band, but it drawn into the cold case which involves the new woman in Crow's life. There is a complex web of relationships related to the woman's family and dating back to a triple murder 20 years earlier. Tess finds a second overripe body, also a man of interest to the local police. There are a few surprises as the novel moves towards a climax. There are questions about a past kidnapping, and questions about who was responsible for the various murders. And there are questions about motives including sex, money, and revenge.
Lippman does an excellent job at making you feel that you are in San Antonio and other Texas areas. As someone who lived in Houston for a few years I always feel rather nostalgic when it comes to books set in Texas. While feeling lost and lonely in Texas as nothing is familiar Tess quickly finds her niche there. She is a likeable character who I always enjoy reading her latest adventure.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Oryx and Crake by by Margaret Atwood
The novel takes place in the distant future, where global warming has changed the earth so much that the coastal cities no longer exist, and New York is now New New York. Going outside in the sun is a death sentence, so the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, although areas known as The Pleebands still exist, where people live and are still exposed to nature in all its glory.
The other major plot line has to do with three central characters. Snowman is the narrator, also known as Jimmy, who at the start of the book is the only known surviving human being on the face of the planet. The book starts off with Snowman sleeping in a tree, barely alive, knowing that he does not have too much longer to live. Food is scarce, the sun is so hot he has blisters all over his body, and the genetically engineered creatures the wolvogs and the pigoons that have escaped are now roaming the grounds.
While he tries to keep alive, Snowman also keeps watch over a group of humanoid creatures called the Crakers, named after his "best" friend Crake, who was somehow responsible over the creation of these people. These Crakers are supposedly the ideal humans. They have no emotional desires, in particular no sex drives, except to pro-create. There is no reason for war, with this new type of human being. They are vegetarians, and do not desire meat. They are very simple people, and Snowman had promised to care for them if anything happened to Crake.
As Snowman goes back in time to reflect on the past, we learn more about Crake, who was an egotistical brilliant young man who had visions of a so-called better world. The third main character is Oryx, a woman whose history takes the reader to a third world Asian country where she was sold into a type of servitude, and eventually becomes a prostitute. She then finds her way to the western world and ends up working with Crake, becoming part of his plan when he creates the Crakers. Their story is revealed in pieces, told while Snowman goes on an adventure to find food and seek out the compound where it had all began. Snowman wants to go back to this place, hoping to find answers and food and supplies, and to remember the reasons why the human race was nearly obliterated. It's the story of these three and their lopsided relationship that leads us to answers of why the world "ended".
Atwood is a truly aweinspiring author. I'm always amazed at the varied books she has written over the years. This book really makes you think and wonder what our future will hold.
The novel takes place in the distant future, where global warming has changed the earth so much that the coastal cities no longer exist, and New York is now New New York. Going outside in the sun is a death sentence, so the wealthier areas of the world are protected under places known as compounds, although areas known as The Pleebands still exist, where people live and are still exposed to nature in all its glory.
The other major plot line has to do with three central characters. Snowman is the narrator, also known as Jimmy, who at the start of the book is the only known surviving human being on the face of the planet. The book starts off with Snowman sleeping in a tree, barely alive, knowing that he does not have too much longer to live. Food is scarce, the sun is so hot he has blisters all over his body, and the genetically engineered creatures the wolvogs and the pigoons that have escaped are now roaming the grounds.
While he tries to keep alive, Snowman also keeps watch over a group of humanoid creatures called the Crakers, named after his "best" friend Crake, who was somehow responsible over the creation of these people. These Crakers are supposedly the ideal humans. They have no emotional desires, in particular no sex drives, except to pro-create. There is no reason for war, with this new type of human being. They are vegetarians, and do not desire meat. They are very simple people, and Snowman had promised to care for them if anything happened to Crake.
As Snowman goes back in time to reflect on the past, we learn more about Crake, who was an egotistical brilliant young man who had visions of a so-called better world. The third main character is Oryx, a woman whose history takes the reader to a third world Asian country where she was sold into a type of servitude, and eventually becomes a prostitute. She then finds her way to the western world and ends up working with Crake, becoming part of his plan when he creates the Crakers. Their story is revealed in pieces, told while Snowman goes on an adventure to find food and seek out the compound where it had all began. Snowman wants to go back to this place, hoping to find answers and food and supplies, and to remember the reasons why the human race was nearly obliterated. It's the story of these three and their lopsided relationship that leads us to answers of why the world "ended".
Atwood is a truly aweinspiring author. I'm always amazed at the varied books she has written over the years. This book really makes you think and wonder what our future will hold.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT by Jane Stern
She write columns and books with her husband, Michael Stern, such titles as Roadfood, Eat Your Way Across the USA and they also speak on NPR's show Where We Eat.
At 52, Stern, a well-known foodie-she and her husband, Michael, have coauthored some 20 books on American culture and food she found herself profoundly depressed. Holed up in the couple's Connecticut home, she'd lost interest in doing much of anything. Phobias (bus riding, air travel, claustrophobia, etc.) made her isolation worse. One day, on a whim, she responded to the "volunteers wanted" notice at the local firehouse and signed up for EMT training. No one teaching "boot camp"-style classes would have tolerated a queasy (much less depressed or phobic) recruit, so she had to tough it out. Humor definitely helped. As Stern remarks, after a few classes covering major trauma, "I am no longer clinically depressed but instead am dying of everything simultaneously."
Some of her class notes are funny, like her list of EMT no-nos: don't replace organs hanging from bodies, don't give CPR to a severed head, don't attempt to revive someone in a "state of advanced decomposition" and if "you have a patient whose leg or arm is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things `neat.' " After training and certification, the real work started, and while initially it did the trick-"in helping others I learned to help myself"-the ultimate truth, that she couldn't save everyone, brought back her depression.
I read this for my bookclub at work and found myself enjoying it. I did get tired of her talk about the firemen being so good looking. But her interactions with people she met and finding her inner strength to get over her phobias was truly amazing and inspiring. I wish we could all find our inner calling to get us through the hard stuff.
This book was made into a movie starring Kathy Bates.
She write columns and books with her husband, Michael Stern, such titles as Roadfood, Eat Your Way Across the USA and they also speak on NPR's show Where We Eat.
At 52, Stern, a well-known foodie-she and her husband, Michael, have coauthored some 20 books on American culture and food she found herself profoundly depressed. Holed up in the couple's Connecticut home, she'd lost interest in doing much of anything. Phobias (bus riding, air travel, claustrophobia, etc.) made her isolation worse. One day, on a whim, she responded to the "volunteers wanted" notice at the local firehouse and signed up for EMT training. No one teaching "boot camp"-style classes would have tolerated a queasy (much less depressed or phobic) recruit, so she had to tough it out. Humor definitely helped. As Stern remarks, after a few classes covering major trauma, "I am no longer clinically depressed but instead am dying of everything simultaneously."
Some of her class notes are funny, like her list of EMT no-nos: don't replace organs hanging from bodies, don't give CPR to a severed head, don't attempt to revive someone in a "state of advanced decomposition" and if "you have a patient whose leg or arm is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things `neat.' " After training and certification, the real work started, and while initially it did the trick-"in helping others I learned to help myself"-the ultimate truth, that she couldn't save everyone, brought back her depression.
I read this for my bookclub at work and found myself enjoying it. I did get tired of her talk about the firemen being so good looking. But her interactions with people she met and finding her inner strength to get over her phobias was truly amazing and inspiring. I wish we could all find our inner calling to get us through the hard stuff.
This book was made into a movie starring Kathy Bates.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Book of Jane by Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt
Jane has it all - a career in public relations, the perfect boyfriend, a great West Village apartment, and a strong faith in God. That faith is tested when, in quick succession, her boyfriend leaves her, an untrue rumor costs Jane her job, and a storm floods her apartment. She finds her way out of this mess with some unlikely help from her ex-boss' nephew Coates, who challenges her to be spontaneous and to follow her true calling. Loosely based on the Book of Job.
Ok, book. Got a bit tired of the marter attitude of the main character by the end. But it was an interesting premise and I was curious to see how this new type of Christian fiction would be.
Jane has it all - a career in public relations, the perfect boyfriend, a great West Village apartment, and a strong faith in God. That faith is tested when, in quick succession, her boyfriend leaves her, an untrue rumor costs Jane her job, and a storm floods her apartment. She finds her way out of this mess with some unlikely help from her ex-boss' nephew Coates, who challenges her to be spontaneous and to follow her true calling. Loosely based on the Book of Job.
Ok, book. Got a bit tired of the marter attitude of the main character by the end. But it was an interesting premise and I was curious to see how this new type of Christian fiction would be.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
Imagine a town where toys and nursery rhymes come to life and pursue human activities: they walk, talk, eat, drink and commit heinous crimes. This is the land that Rankin creates. 13-year-old Jack goes to the City to find his fortune, unaware that the City is in fact Toy City, where legends and fables walk (or stumble, if they've had too much to drink). He meets up with detective teddy bear, Eddie, who is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty. When Little Boy Blue is offed, it's clear that a serial killer is prowling Toy City, leaving behind the titular chocolate bunnies as his calling card.
We see a lot of familiar characters but we get to see their riotous back stories: Miss Muffett hosts a daytime TV talk show called "The Tuffet"; Mother Goose (who prefers to be called Madame Goose) runs a brothel; Humpty Dumpty was likely a failed television stuntman named Terry Horsey. Although the story is wickedly clever and the payoff is a great and satisfying surprise, the real delight comes from watching Rankin work his linguistic magic: characters talk in hilariously circular and self-aware dialogue, and puns and wordplay are packed into the prose like sardines in a tin.
Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors so I thought I would give this a try. This is not for the faint of heart as it is in the gutter humor. No holds bared as the saying goes. I would go out hunting for more but down the road when I'm in the mood for raunchy British humor I might see what else he has to offer.
Imagine a town where toys and nursery rhymes come to life and pursue human activities: they walk, talk, eat, drink and commit heinous crimes. This is the land that Rankin creates. 13-year-old Jack goes to the City to find his fortune, unaware that the City is in fact Toy City, where legends and fables walk (or stumble, if they've had too much to drink). He meets up with detective teddy bear, Eddie, who is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty. When Little Boy Blue is offed, it's clear that a serial killer is prowling Toy City, leaving behind the titular chocolate bunnies as his calling card.
We see a lot of familiar characters but we get to see their riotous back stories: Miss Muffett hosts a daytime TV talk show called "The Tuffet"; Mother Goose (who prefers to be called Madame Goose) runs a brothel; Humpty Dumpty was likely a failed television stuntman named Terry Horsey. Although the story is wickedly clever and the payoff is a great and satisfying surprise, the real delight comes from watching Rankin work his linguistic magic: characters talk in hilariously circular and self-aware dialogue, and puns and wordplay are packed into the prose like sardines in a tin.
Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors so I thought I would give this a try. This is not for the faint of heart as it is in the gutter humor. No holds bared as the saying goes. I would go out hunting for more but down the road when I'm in the mood for raunchy British humor I might see what else he has to offer.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is the journey of Milo, a boy bored of basically everything around him. One day he receives a mysterious package that turns out to be a tollbooth. For lack of anything better to do, he puts it together and begins to play, only to find himself driving in an entirely different world. There he meets all sort of curious creatures, from a giant watchdog (literally, a dog whose body is a watch) and a humbug the size of a person. Juster plays with words as if they were tangible objects to juggle, and continually surprises the reader by turning ordinary events into magical occurrences. This book very much exemplifies the quote "The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to get sharper" Eden Phillpots."
As most adult readers I read this as a child but it didn't make much of an impression of me at the time so it was great fun to read it as an adult and rediscover it. Utterly delightful.
This is the journey of Milo, a boy bored of basically everything around him. One day he receives a mysterious package that turns out to be a tollbooth. For lack of anything better to do, he puts it together and begins to play, only to find himself driving in an entirely different world. There he meets all sort of curious creatures, from a giant watchdog (literally, a dog whose body is a watch) and a humbug the size of a person. Juster plays with words as if they were tangible objects to juggle, and continually surprises the reader by turning ordinary events into magical occurrences. This book very much exemplifies the quote "The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to get sharper" Eden Phillpots."
As most adult readers I read this as a child but it didn't make much of an impression of me at the time so it was great fun to read it as an adult and rediscover it. Utterly delightful.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Sophie Metropolis series by Tori Carrington
Sofie is in transition. She was engaged to marry Thomas-the-(...)-Toad Chalikis - not that it was love, mind you - but being twenty-six and single was not easy in a Greek family. It might not be love, but there are other uses for a man, such as carrying rugs up to her apartment. Only, when she catches Mr. (...)-Toad on the day of her wedding locked in an embrace with her maid of honor (honor?), Sofie sees the handwriting on the wall, so to speak. She stopped waiting tables at her father's and grandfather's cafés (the cafés are across the street from each other, mind you, even though there is long standing fuel between them!) dumps the groom, keeps the wedding presents and sets out to find her own way. The biggest wedding gift was a six-unit apartment building her family bought as a nest egg for her new marriage. Sofie now struggles to collect rent from her oddball tenants and also is taking over her uncle's detective agency. So far, the cases haven't been all that exciting, such as dog hunting and wife tracking.
However, her newest cases does have promise. Old Mr. Romanoff down the street - affectionately known as "the vampire" has vanished. His equally creeping nephew came for a visit and suddenly the old man is nowhere to be found. Odd, in the estimation of Sofie's office manager. She insists Sofie find out what happened to the old vamp...man. Then while tailing a wayward wife, Sofie lands in the middle of a shoot-out and is rescued by a sexy mystery man, Jake Porter. Life is definitely looking up! What is Jake doing in the middle of her cheating wife case? Why is the wife wanted by the FBI?
Very similiar to Stephanie Plum novels by Evanovich. But a fun, light summer read.
Sofie is in transition. She was engaged to marry Thomas-the-(...)-Toad Chalikis - not that it was love, mind you - but being twenty-six and single was not easy in a Greek family. It might not be love, but there are other uses for a man, such as carrying rugs up to her apartment. Only, when she catches Mr. (...)-Toad on the day of her wedding locked in an embrace with her maid of honor (honor?), Sofie sees the handwriting on the wall, so to speak. She stopped waiting tables at her father's and grandfather's cafés (the cafés are across the street from each other, mind you, even though there is long standing fuel between them!) dumps the groom, keeps the wedding presents and sets out to find her own way. The biggest wedding gift was a six-unit apartment building her family bought as a nest egg for her new marriage. Sofie now struggles to collect rent from her oddball tenants and also is taking over her uncle's detective agency. So far, the cases haven't been all that exciting, such as dog hunting and wife tracking.
However, her newest cases does have promise. Old Mr. Romanoff down the street - affectionately known as "the vampire" has vanished. His equally creeping nephew came for a visit and suddenly the old man is nowhere to be found. Odd, in the estimation of Sofie's office manager. She insists Sofie find out what happened to the old vamp...man. Then while tailing a wayward wife, Sofie lands in the middle of a shoot-out and is rescued by a sexy mystery man, Jake Porter. Life is definitely looking up! What is Jake doing in the middle of her cheating wife case? Why is the wife wanted by the FBI?
Very similiar to Stephanie Plum novels by Evanovich. But a fun, light summer read.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Things are suddenly starting to look up for the hapless but optimistic Emma Corrigan. She has kept her job at Panther Cola for nearly a year, has the perfect boyfriend and hopes for a promotion to marketing executive should her first opportunity to strut her stuff and land a business deal be successful. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned, and on her unusually turbulent return flight from a disappointing client meeting, in a terrified state, she confesses her innermost secrets to the good-looking stranger sitting beside her. When she shows up at work the next morning, she is horrified to discover that her mystery man is none other than the revered and brilliant Jack Harper, American CEO of Panther Cola, on a weeklong visit to the company's U.K. branch.
Thus begins a series of chaotic, emotionally exhausting and funny episodes that thrust Emma, with her workaholic best friend, Lissy, and their awful flatmate Jemima, into a world of fairy tales, secrets and deceit. We see her compeate with her nemesis cousin who her parents favor over her and her grandfather who is constantly giving her self defense advice.
When Emma's every secrets are revealed on national television can she find the nerve to survive and actually tell people what she really thinks? and be honest - even when it hurts? Plus will she ever learn to trust again?
Kind of reminiscent of Sex and the City crossed with Bridget Jones' Diary. I really enjoyed this read as it gave me some escape from my own kind of mundane life. I have not read any of her other works which include the popular "Shopaholic" books. But I'll give them a try. Very fun and perfect for summer.
Things are suddenly starting to look up for the hapless but optimistic Emma Corrigan. She has kept her job at Panther Cola for nearly a year, has the perfect boyfriend and hopes for a promotion to marketing executive should her first opportunity to strut her stuff and land a business deal be successful. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned, and on her unusually turbulent return flight from a disappointing client meeting, in a terrified state, she confesses her innermost secrets to the good-looking stranger sitting beside her. When she shows up at work the next morning, she is horrified to discover that her mystery man is none other than the revered and brilliant Jack Harper, American CEO of Panther Cola, on a weeklong visit to the company's U.K. branch.
Thus begins a series of chaotic, emotionally exhausting and funny episodes that thrust Emma, with her workaholic best friend, Lissy, and their awful flatmate Jemima, into a world of fairy tales, secrets and deceit. We see her compeate with her nemesis cousin who her parents favor over her and her grandfather who is constantly giving her self defense advice.
When Emma's every secrets are revealed on national television can she find the nerve to survive and actually tell people what she really thinks? and be honest - even when it hurts? Plus will she ever learn to trust again?
Kind of reminiscent of Sex and the City crossed with Bridget Jones' Diary. I really enjoyed this read as it gave me some escape from my own kind of mundane life. I have not read any of her other works which include the popular "Shopaholic" books. But I'll give them a try. Very fun and perfect for summer.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
8th in the series featuring the #1 Ladies Detective Agency - Mma Ramotswe and her friends
As with the previous novels there are several cases going on at one time. But now the cases are shared with others besides Makutsi.
Dr. Cronje, who's half Xhosa and half Afrikaner, consults Smith's sleuth, the gentle and insightful Precious Ramotswe, because patients at his hospital who have occupied a particular bed have been dying mysteriously at the same time of day. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's recently engaged assistant, Grace Makutsi, threatens to break their longstanding association. Mma Ramotswe must adjust their relationship in order to retain Mma Makutsi's services. J. L. B. Matekoni also tries his hand at the detective business, catering to a rude client who suspects her husband of infidelity. The case prompts Mr. Matekoni to wonder whether he's exciting enough for his cherished wife. Charlie, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's older assistant branches out on his own when he buys a Mercedes from him with disastrous consequences.
Of course, no matter what dramas the day brings, Mma Ramotswe always has time to enjoy a cup of red bush tea and revel in the beauty of her native land.
Delightful as always and so nice to hear it read outloud as the reader is excellent. Plus now I have a better idea of how the names should be pronouced. One of my most favorite series.
8th in the series featuring the #1 Ladies Detective Agency - Mma Ramotswe and her friends
As with the previous novels there are several cases going on at one time. But now the cases are shared with others besides Makutsi.
Dr. Cronje, who's half Xhosa and half Afrikaner, consults Smith's sleuth, the gentle and insightful Precious Ramotswe, because patients at his hospital who have occupied a particular bed have been dying mysteriously at the same time of day. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe's recently engaged assistant, Grace Makutsi, threatens to break their longstanding association. Mma Ramotswe must adjust their relationship in order to retain Mma Makutsi's services. J. L. B. Matekoni also tries his hand at the detective business, catering to a rude client who suspects her husband of infidelity. The case prompts Mr. Matekoni to wonder whether he's exciting enough for his cherished wife. Charlie, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's older assistant branches out on his own when he buys a Mercedes from him with disastrous consequences.
Of course, no matter what dramas the day brings, Mma Ramotswe always has time to enjoy a cup of red bush tea and revel in the beauty of her native land.
Delightful as always and so nice to hear it read outloud as the reader is excellent. Plus now I have a better idea of how the names should be pronouced. One of my most favorite series.
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