The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue
Fiction

Razi died at the height of her life in the 1920s. She had an admission to a good college (a rare thing for a woman in this time) and had found the man that she loved. After she passes, she stays in the human world and guides spirits. There are some basic rules to living with humans. They include not staying with those that you love and not touching anything. We slowly learn more about Razi's past, while we learn about the couple she's living with: Amy and Scott.

The two story lines intermingle and there are parallels between them. It's apparent that there's something more that the author isn't revealing and as you slowly learn more about Amy and Razi, you learn where the connection is.

This book has some similarities to The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold in that the narration is told from a dead character's point of view. It also grabs you the same way The Lovely Bones does, but is a bit confusing at the beginning while you try to determine who the narration is coming from. The weaving of the stories makes for a very interesting read. I will definitely be on the lookout for other books by Domingue.

First Line: "Simon Beeker had been dead four months."

Rating:

(4/5)

Which Witch?

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson
Children's

Arriman the Awful, the Wizard of the North, has waited and waited for a replacement but no one has arrived. He decides the best way to pass on his dark magic is to marry. But Who? He decides to hold a competition. Whoever performs the darkest magic, wins.

There are sea witches and country witches, witch twins and even an enchantress shows up at the last minute. But Belladonna, a white witch has unfortunately fallen in love with Arriman. She is determined to win but how does she start creating vipers instead of bunnies. Terence, an orphan that Belladonna rescues and his pet worm, Rover might just be the help she needs.

The contest is fun and the end has a couple of really nice twists. A fun and imaginative book!!

First Line: "As soon as he was born, Mr. and Mrs. Canker knew that their baby was not like other people's children."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The Kalahari Typing School for Men

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
Mystery

Another great book in a wonderful series.

Precious Ramotswe, founder of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency has competition in the form of an arrogant, sexist man who has opened his Satisfaction Guaranteed Agency. He believes that his agency is the only one who can help people as he is a man with experience.

Her adopted son has shown some disturbing behaviour in killing a bird and she doesn't quite know how to handle the situation.

Her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and decides to open The Kalahari Typing School for Men. One of Mma Makutsi's clients shows interest in her. Finally, Precious Ramotswe's fiancee, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni is showing no signs of setting a date for their marriage.

Mma Ramotswe shows wisdom and morality in all the problems she solves. Each of the books in this series is like a wave of fresh air.

First Line: "I must remember, thought Mma Ramotswe, how fortunate I am in this life; at every moment, but especially now, sitting on the veranda of my house in Zebra Drive, and looking up at the high sky of Botswana, so empty that the blue is almost white."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

a Sunday at the pool in Kigali

a Sunday at the pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
Literature

Valcourt is a Quebecois living in Rwanda. He truly loves the land and has found his place in life. Staying at the Mille Collines, he meets and falls in love with Gentille. Gentille is a Hutu who looks like a Tutsis. She is in grave danger during the genocide. Valcourt wants to marry her but sees no reason to leave the country. Despite seeing the bodies of his friends who have been murdered, he continues to stay.

The reader is really stretched in understanding why someone would put a person he is in love with in such danger. I found some of the philosophizing very well done. At one point Valcourt states that each country has a sickness. The sickness attributed to Canada was complacency. This is so true. Also interesting was the fact that the UN did nothing even though some of their personnel was murdered.

This is an excellent story but not for someone with a weak stomach.

First Line: "In the middle of Kigali there is a swimming pool surrounded by deckchairs and a score of tables all made of white plastic."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson
Children

A prophecy is made that a dark wizard will be coming to replace Arriman the Awful. Arriman waits and waits and when the wizard doesn't show up, he needs to find a way to make sure that his dark magic gets passed on to the next generation. Arriman decides to hold a contest for all the witches in the local town to find out which witch will become his wife. The witches must perform their darkest magic to try to win over Arriman's heart.

Belladonna is a white witch who wants very badly to be dark... but whenever she tries any black magic, she just creates flowers and rabbits. Until she meets Terrance and his pet worm, Rover. She hopes they can help her win the contest.

This book is a lot of fun and very cute!! They say on the front that if you're a Harry Potter fan you'll enjoy this, but this reminded me more of a Roald Dahl book. You don't need to be a kid to enjoy this! This was a great read!

First Line: "As soon as he was born, Mr. and Mrs. Canker knew that their baby was not like other people's children."

Rating:

(4/5)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Young Adult

Coraline is an explorer. Her parents work at home so can't give her their full attention, which means she needs to find other ways to occupy her time. She explores the grounds of her home. One day she decides to open up every single door in her building and comes across one that leads to brick.

The next time Coraline opens this door, it leads to a hallway. Coraline follows it and finds her mom and dad... except something isn't quite the same about them. Coraline must challenge her "other mother" and fight to get back to her real parents.

This book was an easy read and was entertaining, but was just plain creepy. This would scare the crap out of me if I was a 12 year old.

First Line: "Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house."

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Come, Tell Me How You Live

Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan
Memoir

This is an autobiography written by Agatha Christie. It is over a period of several years where she accompanies her husband on his archeological digs. Christie tells of the 'travails' of first finding a suitable site to dig at and then of the subsequent years in finding the treasures.

Agatha Christie has written a very funny book. She tells of various encounters with wildlife. She also writes about the 'help'. One of them is Michael who wishes to save them money and be economical often with disastrous results. This book was written in 1946 and as such although Christie and her husband seem to be very fair minded are still very imperialist by nature

I enjoyed the read.

First Line: "In a few weeks' time we are starting for Syria."

Rating:

(4.0/5)

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche

A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
Genre of book

Valcourt is a Quebecois that moved to Rwanda in hopes of opening up a television station there with the blessing of the Rwanda government and the help of the Canadian government. However both kept dragging their feet and Valcourt turned his efforts toward creating a documentary about AIDS. While staying in the famous Mille Collines, he spends his days in Kigali, interviewing those with AIDS. Valcourt befriends many Hutus and Tutsis, but falls in love with a server at the hotel named Gentille. Gentille is a Hutu by birth, but is tall and beautiful so that any Rwandan would mistake her as a Tutsi. Obviously, not what you want to be mistaken for at the start of the Rwandan genocide.

Valcourt and Gentille plan to get married but want to marry in Rwanda, as Valcourt has adopted this as his new home. His Tutsi friends start to get murdered and tossed at the side of the road, yet Valcourt and Gentille still stay in Rwanda. Despite their explanations, I can't understand why anyone would put themselves in this type of danger. There are horror stories about mutilations and dehumanization that leave you in shock.

The first chapter of this book doesn't do the book justice. I was thinking that I was going to have to pass on the book because of the poor first chapter. If you do decide to pick this book up, don't let the first chapter get to you! The book gets far better once the author picks up a story line and follows it. It's a touching story of love in a horrible time and there's even a bit of a twist at the end!

First Line: "In the middle of Kigali there is a swimming pool surrounded by deckchairs and a score of tables all made of white plastic."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Picture Perfect

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
Fiction/Literature

Cassie is found with no memory in a graveyard by Will, a half breed. As she slowly recovers her memory Cassie discovers she is a physical anthropologist and married to Alex Rivers, the movie star every female is in love with. Her life is not picture perfect, Cassie and Alex love each other but Alex is filled with rage and frequently it is directed towards her.

Their life from initial meeting to present day is told. Cassie has been suffering abuse a long time. Will she have the strength to leave a man she loves?

Picoult focuses on the abuse and tells it from the point of view of the abused woman. A woman who loves a man who hurts her, who believes it is her own fault and knows if she leaves it could be the death of her as well as if she stays. This book made me understand a little why the abused often stay.

Where I felt the book was missing was in the establishment of the story. What intelligent cop would have put her back into the abuse without more investigation into the cause of the amnesia. Also when she was checked out why was she not told she was pregnant. The book was written and the story was made to fit. This causes holes which disturb the reader.

Definitely not one of my fav Picoult books

First Line: "Long ago on the shores of the Atlantic there lived a great Indian warrior called Strong Wind"

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Man of the House by Ad Hudler

Man of the House by Ad Hudler
Man-Lit

Not many books fall into the "man lit" category. It's essentially chick lit, except something that guys would enjoy. This book is told primarily from the viewpoint of Lincoln Menner, a stay at home dad who takes care of his only daughter Violet while his wife Jo works as an executive at a hospital. The family just moved to Florida and the house is going through too many renovations. Linc is tired of living in "girlyland" and started to change his lifestyle. This includes carrying around a tool belt and learning how to fix things, going to the gym, and driving a truck.

Each of the characters, including Violet's stalker teacher, adds their perspective to why Linc is going through his changes and how it affects them. Unfortunately, I felt this book fell a bit short. I found most of the characters annoying and couldn't relate to them. Perhaps it's a problem that this book is trying to address - that there aren't many stay at home dads in the world? Regardless, it got to the point where I just didn't care. To add to this, what is the point of having a stalker obsessed with Lincoln?

First Line: "One of my favourite things to do is cut out pictures from magazines and make collages."

Rating:

(3/5)

Coraline

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Children

Coraline lives with her very busy parents. Downstairs is a couple of elderly women directly from the stage and upstairs is a crazy old man who is training a mouse circus. Coraline wants some more attention. She is bored.

In her parlor is a locked door, behind which is a wall. One day when Coraline opens the door there is a long dark corridor. This leads to the 'other' family and people. At first it seems like this is a dream come true. But soon after it is only a nightmare from which Coraline must save everyone. She must be brave.

This is a children's novel. A delightfully scary and interesting premise. Coraline learns that she really has everything she need right in front of her.

First Line: "Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house"

Rating:

(4.0/5)