Jaline

Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Somewhere in the 1800’s in New England, a monastery was established with a statue on the grounds of St. Anthony, the patron saint of the recovery of anything lost. The monastery became an orphanage and also a winery. Some of the ‘lost’ children may h ...more
1 hour, 11 min ago · 13 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Haunted Abbot (Sister Fidelma, #12) by Peter Tremayne Read 2 times	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In the last novel, while Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are on their way to Canterbury where Brother Eadulf had messages to deliver to the Archbishop, their ship was caught in a storm and they ended up in what is now Wales. There, ...more
May 25, 2019 04:45PM · 39 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing Casting Off (Cazalet Chronicles, #4) by Elizabeth Jane Howard	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This novel observes the Cazalet families and extended families after the war, from July 1945 to the summer of 1947. Casting off, as a term used in knitting, is the finishing row of whatever article is being knitted. It denotes the ending – a completio ...more
May 23, 2019 03:14PM · 93 likes · like · see review
Jaline rated a book really liked it Freeze Frame (Enzo Files, #4) by Peter May (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In this novel, rather than have his various helpers join in to solve the 20-year-old cold case, Enzo is on his own. An elderly, dying man was murdered in 1990 on the small Ile de Groix, which lies a few kilometres off the coast of Lorient in France. ...more
May 19, 2019 10:27PM · 78 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Freeze Frame by Peter May. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Freeze Frame by Peter May <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In the 1870’s, Frank Reid’s parents move to Russia and his father sets up a print shop and a warehouse business in Moscow, Russia. All that had really been needed, when he started out in the 1870’s, was a certificate to say the the articles of associ ...more
May 16, 2019 10:41PM · 155 likes · like · see review
Jaline rated a book it was amazing When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie, #3) by Kate Atkinson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Once again, Kate Atkinson has written a novel that fires off with sketched pencil outlines that gradually become filled in, fleshed out with colours both brilliant and ominous. In this third (of five, so far) Jackson Brodie novel, we become re-acquain ...more
May 14, 2019 01:38PM · 125 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot, #2) by Agatha Christie	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Side Note: In August last year, I reached a personal milestone of 1,000 books read so far in this decade with the first of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. With this second novel in the Hercule Poirot series, ...more
May 10, 2019 06:40PM · 144 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Black Moon (Poldark, #5) by Winston Graham	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As always, Winston Graham has crafted a completely absorbing addition to the Poldark family saga, and in this one he took me along back into the 1700’s of Cornwall and France – a willing and eager passenger. Ross Poldark’s old flame and his deceased c ...more
May 09, 2019 06:51PM · 101 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Black Moon by Winston Graham. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Black Moon by Winston Graham <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing The Sportswriter (Frank Bascombe, #1) by Richard Ford	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After spending hours in Frank Bascombe’s head, I am still not sure what to make of him. This book revolves around an Easter weekend in his life, beginning with an annual visit to his son’s grave with his ex-wife (referred to as “X” throughout the nov ...more
May 05, 2019 01:04PM · 120 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Sportswriter by Richard Ford. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Sportswriter by Richard Ford <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jaline rated a book it was amazing French Exit by Patrick deWitt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This novel is unbelievable. The family, (father, mother son), are unbelievably dysfunctional. Their story is unbelievable. There is a cat in this story who is unbelievable. Their lives in New York and then later in Paris are comprised of unbelievable ...more
Apr 25, 2019 06:40PM · 150 likes · like · see review

Jaline rated a book it was amazing

The Good Thief
by Hannah Tinti (Goodreads Author)

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Somewhere in the 1800’s in New England, a monastery was established with a statue on the grounds of St. Anthony, the patron saint of the recovery of anything lost. The monastery became an orphanage and also a winery. Some of the ‘lost’ children may h Somewhere in the 1800’s in New England, a monastery was established with a statue on the grounds of St. Anthony, the patron saint of the recovery of anything lost. The monastery became an orphanage and also a winery. Some of the ‘lost’ children may have been recovered by family, but some were adopted, and others who were deemed too old for adoption were conscripted into the army.

Ren is one of the many orphans or unwanted babies who are passed through the small door affixed to the main entrance and then retrieved by one of the inhabitants of the monastery. When he is delivered through the door, he is just a baby, and he arrives with a physical handicap and a small shirt with REN embroidered into the collar.

After many disappointments through the years, someone finally arrives who specifically wants him, and his elation shares the same space as trepidation. He is around 11 or 12 years old and, although somewhat educated, he has no experience of the outside world to guide him.

Thus begins an amazing story where Ren meets and/or is confronted by every dichotomy possible. He is free, yet still fettered. His new acquaintances are both disarming and distressing. His new experiences are both attractive and appalling. What I found both heart-stirring and heart-breaking about this young boy was the grace and innate wisdom that kept him sweet, adaptable, and kind to others no matter how disturbing the circumstances he found himself in.

This is the second time that Hannah Tinti’s exquisite storytelling found me completely beguiled and so invested in her characters that it was nearly impossible to put this book down. It is unusual, and a rare treat to read a book that covers each check-point so even-handedly and so thoroughly. The writing, the plot, the characters, the atmosphere – all are rendered with a vibrant ambience that is sheer brilliance and completely engaging.

I hope that someday there might be a sequel to this novel because it is so very difficult to say good-bye to these characters without knowing what happens next in their lives.

This is one of the most endearing novels I have read this year – and I have no doubt that it will endure in my heart for a long time to come. ...more

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The Haunted Abbot (Sister Fidelma, #12)
by Peter Tremayne

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In the last novel, while Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are on their way to Canterbury where Brother Eadulf had messages to deliver to the Archbishop, their ship was caught in a storm and they ended up in what is now Wales. There, In the last novel, while Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are on their way to Canterbury where Brother Eadulf had messages to deliver to the Archbishop, their ship was caught in a storm and they ended up in what is now Wales. There, they solved a mystery before continuing onward.

In this novel, they are about to embark on a trip to Eadulf’s home of Seaxmund’s Ham in the land of the South Folk (modern Saxmundham, Suffolk) in the kingdom of the East Angles (East Anglia) in what was to become England. It is December, AD 666 and they are essentially traveling in hostile territory. East Anglia and the kingdom of the East Saxons (Essex) to the south had only been converted to Christianity a few decades before.

Many of the population of this time were uneducated and warlike people, so during the course of many skirmishes and battles for supremacy, pockets of the old pagan culture surfaced and found a new battle to fight: killing off and/or driving out any Christians they could find. These were uneasy times and the borderlands were often taken back and forth by the various warring factions. Plots and conspiracies were thick and a constant force that added to the population’s hardships.

When Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf arrive in the land of the South Folk, it is during one of the worst winters of recent memory. Brother Eadulf’s boyhood friend, Botulf, had sent a message to Brother Eadulf at Canterbury, asking him to arrive at the monastery where he served as Steward on a specific date and prior to midnight. However, Aldred’s Abbey is a ‘closed’ house – one where women are not allowed at all. The travelers also discover a tragedy when they arrive a few hours before midnight: Brother Botulf has been murdered.

And so begins this intriguing story of conspiracy, hatred, outlaws, in-laws, murder, and ghosts. Ghosts? Sister Fidelma believes that all mysteries on earth are only waiting for logic to resolve them, but back in his homeland, surrounded by the language and customs of his native peoples, Brother Eadulf confronts a challenge: belief in his faith? Or, belief in the ghouls and vengeance of the gods of his childhood?

As always, I found this story fascinating. My heart was always near my throat as Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf have no authority in this geography they find themselves in. Not only is the weather hostile, but so, too, are the various factions of people they become involved with – including those who are supposedly of their own faith.

Once again, the action is non-stop as the story moves from one faction of people to another. Meanwhile, Peter Tremayne cleverly stirs in generous helpings of historical fact to blend this fictional novel into a stunning finished dish at the end. I loved it, and look forward to next month’s offering more than ever. ...more

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Casting Off (Cazalet Chronicles, #4)
by Elizabeth Jane Howard

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This novel observes the Cazalet families and extended families after the war, from July 1945 to the summer of 1947.

Casting off, as a term used in knitting, is the finishing row of whatever article is being knitted. It denotes the ending – a completio This novel observes the Cazalet families and extended families after the war, from July 1945 to the summer of 1947.

Casting off, as a term used in knitting, is the finishing row of whatever article is being knitted. It denotes the ending – a completion. Paradoxically, when people cast off in a boat, they are launching it: making a new beginning. Then, of course, there is the casting off of things . . . or people. Throwing them away, tossing them in a discard cupboard in our minds and shutting them away.

As the Cazalets, along with the rest of England, attempt to adjust to a new form of normality after the war, I became invested in the outcomes, participating with happiness, celebration, and sadness while they experienced each form of casting off in their post-war lives.

There are marriages, separations, and divorces. There are careers launched, careers stalled, callings heeded and callings ignored. There are successes disguised as failures and failures that result in successes.

On the National front, Churchill, who led the country through the war is upended and Mr. Attlee, along with his Labour party, moves into reform mode throughout the country. After such a long, debilitating war there is no doubt that reforms were necessary for the country to emerge from all the rubble. Unfortunately, reforms are also costly and there were several downward adjustments to ration coupons. People continued to experience privations that only grew more draining over time.

Again, most of the Cazalet families and their extended families were fortunate. Although they could no longer hire maids and cooks, they were resourceful with the land they owned and were able to continue growing much of their food, as they did during the war. The women of the family taught themselves to cook, with mixed results, and for the most part the men’s companies thrived due to the ever-increasing need for lumber, which their main company supplied.

Once again in this novel, Elizabeth Jane Howard moves through time by switching points of view to various members of the family. She does this so smoothly that there is never a feeling that I am missing something. I have read other authors where the transition feels somewhat awkward, but Ms Howard has mastered the technique, and it enhanced my enjoyment considerably while I came to know each character more intimately.

The fifth, and last, of The Cazalet Chronicles was published 18 years after this one – just one year before Elizabeth Jane Howard died at the age of 90 in 2014. I am eager to discover the next phase in the lives of this amazing family next month. ...more

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Freeze Frame (Enzo Files, #4)
by Peter May (Goodreads Author)

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In this novel, rather than have his various helpers join in to solve the 20-year-old cold case, Enzo is on his own. An elderly, dying man was murdered in 1990 on the small Ile de Groix, which lies a few kilometres off the coast of Lorient in France. In this novel, rather than have his various helpers join in to solve the 20-year-old cold case, Enzo is on his own. An elderly, dying man was murdered in 1990 on the small Ile de Groix, which lies a few kilometres off the coast of Lorient in France. Peter May’s descriptive prose shines in this one because, although the island is only 14.82 square km (5.72 square miles) in area, there are many differences in the geography and geology of the area that are not found elsewhere in France. In this series, Peter May generally doesn’t write long descriptive paragraphs; rather, he brings forth interesting details and vivid observances through his characters and their conversations.

The population on the island is small, and everyone seems to know everyone else’s business. When Enzo arrives, he senses that all the residents are aware of who he is and what he is doing there. He feels the resentment of some, and discovers it is largely because when the murder happened and there was a trial with an acquittal, it did much to damage tourism in the area – one of the industries they rely on.

The best part for Enzo is that the crime scene is almost perfectly preserved. Before he was murdered, the man left a cryptic message with his daughter-in-law for his son, asking that no matter what happened to him, his study must not be touched until his son could find his message. Unfortunately, his son was not able to complete his mission, but the daughter-in-law kept everything in their original places as requested.

However, despite the pristine crime scene, Enzo’s progress through the case is slow-going. He finds several clues but they don’t seem to make sense at all. There is an interesting little piece about how he works with his subconscious to un-riddle the tangled messes he is often presented in these cold cases, (although he continues to sabotage himself with his late nights and hangovers, which isn’t helpful to one’s subconscious).

At one point, his long-term girlfriend, Charlotte, comes to see him. She briefly turns his life upside down and then leaves again. In the brief time she is there, she also uses her brilliantly analytical mind to pinpoint some crucial details from the clues, which helps Enzo move forward in the case.

Enzo makes a side-trip to Paris, and to Agradir in Morocco. We learn some fascinating history of this tiny spot as well, and I even felt the need to look up more information about it on the internet. Fascinating stuff! Back on the island, it slowly emerges that the murderer from so many years ago narrows down to one of two possibilities, and Enzo is determined to discover not only which of the two it is, but why it was done.

This story starts off very fast-paced, and although it slows down once Enzo becomes involved with the people on the island, we do get to learn more about the area, the people, and the clues left behind. There is a brooding, almost haunting feeling throughout this novel that fits with the puzzles and pieces from the past - and Enzo’s struggle to makes sense of it all. I found this novel to be an intriguing read and I am looking forward to the 5th of these six Cold Cases next month.

Thank you to my "Peter May reading buddy", Sue D, for the great discussions! ...more

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The Beginning of Spring
by Penelope Fitzgerald

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In the 1870’s, Frank Reid’s parents move to Russia and his father sets up a print shop and a warehouse business in Moscow, Russia.

All that had really been needed, when he started out in the 1870’s, was a certificate to say the the articles of associ In the 1870’s, Frank Reid’s parents move to Russia and his father sets up a print shop and a warehouse business in Moscow, Russia.

All that had really been needed, when he started out in the 1870’s, was a certificate to say the the articles of association of your company were in accordance with British law and another form in St Petersburg to say that your enterprise was advantageous to the interests of the Russian Empire.

One also needed a good head for bribes. These bribes, too, must be called gifts, and with that word you began your study of the Russian language.

Frank is born in Russia and his early education takes place there. Later, he studies in both Germany and England, where he meets his wife. They spend a couple of years in Germany while Frank hones his business skills, but upon his father’s death, followed quickly by his mother’s death, Frank takes over the business in Moscow. Their youngest child, born when Dolly is 8 and Ben is 7, is named Annie, or Annushka as she is called in her Russian homeland.

Two and three-quarter years later, Frank’s wife Nellie leaves one day and he comes home to a house with servants but no children. No wife. Shortly after, he receives a call from the stationmaster who says that his three children are there waiting for him to arrive. This is where the main story begins.

“The Beginning of Spring” is another of those novels that can be read on the surface and enjoyed as a simple story. Personally, I think this would be difficult to do because for me, the undercurrents and depths in this deceptively straight-forward story held me in suspenseful anticipation. At times, I felt so much discomfort that I wasn’t sure I even liked it. At other times, I felt like Frank’s brother-in-law, Charlie, who pays a visit for a week and is in thrall with everything he sees, tastes, smells, and experiences.

Either way – or both ways – it is obvious that Penelope Fitzgerald not only researched Moscow and its surrounding areas thoroughly, but she must also have spoken at length with the denizens and/or people who were close to others who had lived there and had many stories to tell. This feels like and reads like a first-hand experience of turn-of-the-21st Century Russia. There is nothing foggy or nebulous in Ms Fitzgerald’s writing. It is straightforward and compact. She says a great deal in very few words.

Take for example the conversation Frank has with his children about their Uncle Charlie. Dolly figures he may as well go home to England because he didn’t bring any information with him about her mother. Frank asks her if she doesn’t care anything for her Uncle. Annushka, born to take life in the way easiest to herself and to extract from any situation only the aspect which did her most credit, shouted, “I love my Uncle Charlie!” I couldn’t help myself – I just had to laugh. And then, I had to marvel. I could see in that one sentence how Penelope Fitzgerald had captured the essence of a much younger sibling vying for her father’s approval in the only way she could.

This novel has many such moments, and it drew me in completely. Although it was only my first reading experience of Penelope Fitzgerald’s work, I will definitely be reading more of her writing as soon as I can. ...more

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When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie, #3)
by Kate Atkinson

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Once again, Kate Atkinson has written a novel that fires off with sketched pencil outlines that gradually become filled in, fleshed out with colours both brilliant and ominous.

In this third (of five, so far) Jackson Brodie novel, we become re-acquain Once again, Kate Atkinson has written a novel that fires off with sketched pencil outlines that gradually become filled in, fleshed out with colours both brilliant and ominous.

In this third (of five, so far) Jackson Brodie novel, we become re-acquainted with several returning characters. As I observed in her last novel, these characters are like streamers floating in an uncertain breeze suspended from a common source – a maypole perhaps – each one with their own backstory, their own tragic or sad or serendipitous histories. As the breeze becomes a wind, the streamers touch each other – briefly – or sometimes become stuck together for a time until the wind changes direction and they touch others, clinging or bouncing off in another direction.

The intricacy of this dance among her characters is what sets Kate Atkinson’s writing apart. The connections are rarely obvious, and sometimes they are hazy and unclear, yet as I sat riveted by this story I remained hypnotized by the ballet being played out in front of my eyes.

This novel is set largely in Scotland, in and around Edinburgh with some Glaswegian thugs thrown in for good measure.

There is a new character, too – a young girl named Regina (“call me Reggie”) who is 16 years old, looks like she’s 11 or 12, and has the mind, capacity for love, and loyalties of a person twice her age. Reggie is the pivot point for this novel as she is linked, either directly or indirectly, to the majority of the other characters in the story.

It is Reggie who is the true heroine of this novel as she invests every ounce of her being into saving lives, finding lost things (and people), and guarding those she loves and cares about with ferocious intelligence.

Jackson Brodie’s own life takes many subtle, sudden, and surprising twists. He loses almost everything in his life and paradoxically, he regains not just himself, but a closer sense of who he really is; of all that matters most to him.

Once again, I am eager to return to the world inhabited by Jackson Brodie and his many acquaintances and his few close friends. I plan to read the 4th novel in this series early in June, and while the 5th in the series will be published late in June, I hope to read that one as soon as I can after it is published.

This is gripping, suspenseful writing with fascinating characters whose lives and philosophies may differ from each other, yet each one authentically painted in their own colours, and so real I feel I know them personally. It doesn’t get much better than this. ...more

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The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot, #2)
by Agatha Christie

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Side Note: In August last year, I reached a personal milestone of 1,000 books read so far in this decade with the first of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. With this second novel in the Hercule Poirot series, Side Note: In August last year, I reached a personal milestone of 1,000 books read so far in this decade with the first of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. With this second novel in the Hercule Poirot series, I have reached another personal milestone: 1,000 eBook reads on my eReader. One thing I can already see: since I bought my first eReader, I have definitely been reading more books than ever before – and that is definitely a good thing! (PS – my reading decades are tracked differently than most people track decades. I start with the ‘zero year’ and end with the ‘nine year’ – in other words, for my reading purposes, this decade started for me in January 2010 and ends at the end of December this year, 2019.)

Captain Arthur Hastings chronicles this second novel in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series, just as he did in the first one. Poirot receives an urgent letter from a very wealthy man who says he is in fear of his life and desperately requires Poirot’s assistance. When Poirot and Hastings arrive, they are met with the news that the man was murdered in the ‘bunkair’ (as Poirot calls it) that was being built on a golf course under construction.

Of course, in real golf, landing one’s golf ball in a bunker filled with sand and a bank along one edge is definitely not a good thing as they are notoriously difficult to chip one’s way out of. In this case, landing in the ‘bunkair’ due to a stab in the back is, of course, far worse.

The plot in this novel rivals any that can be found in modern mystery writing. In fact, it not only rivals them, but in the majority of cases supersedes them substantially. It has been many years since I read some of Agatha Christie’s novels, and to be honest – I don’t think I would recognize the ones I previously read after so many years have passed of life, experience, and reading.

Ms Christie’s characters may not be as strong, yet that is out of necessity. In each book, several characters have to be admitted to set the stage, disassemble it, re-set it, and so forth. It wouldn’t even be responsible of her as a writer to dramatize the characters beyond the extent that she does because I can’t imagine anything worse as a reader than to find a character I was really attached to turn into a criminal.

However, we have Hercule Poirot. He may be tiny with big flowing mustaches and an obsession with adjusting the position of various objects that look out of alignment to him. Still, if he is not physically the ultimate hero to warm up to, his brain and how it works to solve the unsolvable is a huge attraction. And, we have Captain Arthur Hastings – young, dashing, and not nearly as swift to hone in on clues that his friend sees in seconds, he is still endearing in his efforts to keep up to the electrically-charged Poirot.

Although I have not been able to insert into my reading schedule as many Agatha Christie novels as I would like to, there are definitely more upcoming during the latter part of this year. I am so much looking forward to my further adventures with the incorrigible and daunting team of Poirot and Hastings. ...more

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The Black Moon (Poldark, #5)
by Winston Graham

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As always, Winston Graham has crafted a completely absorbing addition to the Poldark family saga, and in this one he took me along back into the 1700’s of Cornwall and France – a willing and eager passenger.

Ross Poldark’s old flame and his deceased c As always, Winston Graham has crafted a completely absorbing addition to the Poldark family saga, and in this one he took me along back into the 1700’s of Cornwall and France – a willing and eager passenger.

Ross Poldark’s old flame and his deceased cousin’s wife, now married to Ross’ worst enemy George Warleggan, gives birth to a son exactly at the time of ‘the black moon’, and George names him Valentine. Elizabeth hires her young cousin as governess for Geoffrey Charles, her 11 year old son with Francis, Ross’ deceased cousin.

Demelza’s second-oldest brother, Sam, and her youngest brother, Drake, come to Ross and Demelza’s home to ask for jobs. Sam is a devout Methodist and Drake is of the same faith but still young in his devotions. Drake meets Geoffrey Charles and his attractive governess, Morwenna, and a lovely friendship is cemented between the three. It is a friendship fated to be a major source of further conflict between the Warleggan and Poldark families. Demelza and Ross have a baby girl and name her Clowance.

Although the revolution in France has now extended to a war over the Netherlands, there seem to be more than enough Republicans to fight on several fronts. Ross selects 7 friends to go with him to France in an attempt to free a close friend of the family from the horrid prison that has been his home for the last year. Their plan is a good one: to coat-tail their landing in France on the Royalists’ attempt to take back control of their homeland. However, it turns into an incredibly harrowing experience for almost all of them.

There are more disturbing experiences and sad times on the home front. George Warleggan, for all that he wants to gain the trust and admiration of everyone in the county – and beyond, if he can – makes some bitter enemies as he wrong-foots his way on his imaginary ladder to success. In the end, an ancient woman defies him by whispering some seeds of doubt and trouble that almost immediately begin to sprout in George’s stubborn, yet fragile psyche.

When I start one of these novels, it is a challenge to do anything else but read and become tangled up in these family’s lives. Winston Graham is a master story-teller, and I love the feeling of mining the historical details that he slips into the story and weaves through it like shimmering threads, both informing and confirming.

I am once again looking forward to the next novel in this remarkable series which I will read next month. ...more

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The Sportswriter (Frank Bascombe, #1)
by Richard Ford

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After spending hours in Frank Bascombe’s head, I am still not sure what to make of him. This book revolves around an Easter weekend in his life, beginning with an annual visit to his son’s grave with his ex-wife (referred to as “X” throughout the nov After spending hours in Frank Bascombe’s head, I am still not sure what to make of him. This book revolves around an Easter weekend in his life, beginning with an annual visit to his son’s grave with his ex-wife (referred to as “X” throughout the novel) early in the morning of Good Friday. Many things happen during that weekend, although the bulk of it centres around Frank’s thoughts.

This is a deeply introspective book. For quite some time I enjoyed the experience of discovering the matches and misses between Frank Bascombe’s thoughts and feelings with my own. I felt an empathy with his character and many of the sad things he had experienced. I felt secure in the knowledge that he had done something of note: he wrote a book of short stories that was picked up by a Producer in Hollywood and gave him and his then-wife a nice start when he was just 24 or 25.

In his ruminations, it is difficult to tell exactly when I began to see some subtle discrepancies in his thought patterns. It is hard to say when this began because for the most part he avoids the first 20 or so years of his life altogether.

When did Frank Bascombe begin to spend most of his life in the passenger seat while life and other people steered and had their foot on the gas pedal? When did he begin to obfuscate many incidents in his life? When did he begin the process of projecting his own thinking and desires onto other people? When did he begin to skip reality and skew it to his own purposes? Now that his 39th birthday is just around the corner, what is it he is seeking and does he have the complete honesty necessary for his contemplations to bear any fruit worth biting into?

Frank Bascombe is a mass of contradictions. He claims to want intimacy, yet he flees from it or sabotages intimate relationships so the other person flees in self-preservation. He wants to be seen as helpful and kind – enraptured by the mysteries of life to the degree that he turns everything into a mystery. Other times, confronted by less ethereal mysteries, the hard and gritty mysteries, he puts his own stamp on them – always slightly off-kilter like a sailboat struggling to right itself on a stormy sea.

At the very end of the novel, Frank Bascombe leaves his New Jersey home to spend time in Florida. He finds family members there from the Bascombe side of his family and that is where we leave him. For now.

While I still don’t know quite what to make of Frank Bascombe, Richard Ford's writing roused my curiosity, and I will read Part Two next month. ...more

Jaline rated a book it was amazing

French Exit
by Patrick deWitt

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This novel is unbelievable. The family, (father, mother son), are unbelievably dysfunctional. Their story is unbelievable. There is a cat in this story who is unbelievable. Their lives in New York and then later in Paris are comprised of unbelievable ...more