Historical Fiction
Another fantastic book by Bryce Courtenay. Six year old Tom Fitzsaxby finds a dog barely alive and saves it. Tom lives at the Boy's Farm, an orphanage in Northern South Africa. This part of SA is very Boer and vehemently anti-English. Tom befriends the 'pig boy' who is a Zulu. The dog if found will be drowned. Tom is almost sexually abused to keep his dog a secret. The Zulu is the person who saves him but he later pays with his life.
The story is about Tom's life as an outsider and a non-racist. First the school is rife with abuse and Tom is the focal point for the hatred for the English. Courtenay portrays South Africa from WW II to about the 1960s. The story is riveting but the history is equally interesting. Tom is an intelligent compassionate young man who only wants justice.
Rating: 
(4.5/5)
As a doctor on the South Pole, Nielson explains what you experience when you "winter over" at the pole. Polies that winter over are essentially stuck at the South Pole for a year - without anyone going in or out of the station, including supplies, during a South Pole winter (approximately February to September). During the 1999 stay over the Nielson does, there are 41 other Polies wintering over. 
Christopher Boone is autistic. He is a math genius but hates the colours yellow and brown. His neighbour's dog is killed and Christopher decides to investigate. This book is not a straight path to the killer but rather a delightful quirky meandering path. Along the way we learn some math problems and about Christopher's school. We find out about his parents' quarrels and his daily life. 
The forth book of the Unfortunate Events series sees Violet, Klaus, and Sunny abandoned in front of a lumber mill, with used gum as the sign. They were told that they would be taken care of in the mill, but they didn't expect to be put to work! The children were expected to work like all the employees, get paid in coupons, and have only gum for lunch. While the orphans don't enjoy this, they think it's better than having Count Olaf vying for them. But are they really safe? 
Stephen Wraysford starts off a young man in France, of British heritage, trying to learn more on the French textile industry in the early 1900s to bring back to his company in England. He falls in love with his boarder's wife and runs away with her. The novel then moves a few years into the future to World War One. Stephen is part of the British Army, on the front line in France, trying to stay alive. He becomes good friends with Michael Weir, an engineer that commands tunnelers to dig below the trenches and set bombs. The novel skips back and forth in time, even going as far as the late 70's, to Stephen's granddaughter.
This is a bizarre book. The current Lord Loveall rescues a baby from a hound on his way home one night. He then decides to present this baby as his only heir. He marries his dead sister's governess and brings up Rose as his own. Rose is brought up with 2 servant children as her only friends. Then her world comes crashing down when it is discovered that she is a he.
The goal is to read a book from each category between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008. I think the hardest part of the challenge for me is going to be finding the books so that I can read them!!
A very interesting historical fiction! This book covers three generations of Burmese-Indian people. I found it quite disturbing how the English treated their colonials. Their justification of this treatment sounds too familiar even today. The question about responsibility for the conquered is also explored. 
Jane Bee did a whirlwind trip of Europe until she found herself in London, England broke with no way to return back home to Canada. Her great aunt helped her find a position at Buckingham Palace where Jane works as a housemaid. When Jane rushes to find out the source of a loud gasp, Jane finds the Queen literally stumbling over the dead body of Jane's friend Robin. The Queen enlists the help of Jane to find out if this was suicide or if it was murder.