Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Fantasy

Death has been forced in to retirement for taking too much care in those he ushers beyond death. He decides to take up as a farm hand, calling himself Bill Door and living with Miss. Flitworth that runs the farm. Death starts to enjoy (as much as Death can enjoy something) the monotony of living life. However without Death, there's no where for souls to go and things are starting to get crowded. Life force is building up and hatching eggs in the shape of globes.

When wizard Windle Poons dies, his soul has no where to go so he goes back to his body and wanders around undead. His wizard colleagues aren't too happy about having a dead Poons around and try to push him back towards death but nothing seems to help. Eventually they stop, and Poons helps them determine why there is so much built up life force.

I had read two Discworld books prior to this; one in the wizards series and one in the death series. I didn't like the wizards one, but did like the Death book. This had both and I found that I enjoyed the Death part of the novel but not the wizards part. For some reason, I can't follow the wizards and their crazy story lines. Half the stuff they say makes no sense to me. Why do they always say Yo? What's with the librarian that makes no sense? It is just completely beyond me.

First Line: "The Morris dance is common toall inhabited worlds in the mutliverse."

Rating:
(2.5/5)

My Abandonment

My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Fiction
My Abandonment, which is based on a true story is about a 13 year old girl and her father who live in Forest Park, a nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit a cave, shower in the rain and tend garden. Once a week they go into town to buy groceries and go to the library. Caroline, the daughter, is home schooled by her father. The father is a back to nature type who is a loner and wants to keep his 'business' to himself.

One day a jogger happens by their camp and because Caroline has made a mistake discovers their existence. They are taken in by police and eventually found a position on a horse farm. Unable to cope with civilization they flee again.

I found the first half of the book intriguing and was sympathetic to the pair. Where Rock deviates into the fictional part of the story I had trouble with the plausibility of the story. The first half of the book I would rate a 9.5, the second half a 7.

First Line: "Sometimes you're walking through the woods when a stick leaps into the air and strikes you across the back and shoulders several times, then flies away lost in the underbrush."
Rating:
(4.0/5)

Echo Park by Michael Connelly

Echo Park by Michael Connelly
Mystery

Bosch and his partner Rider work old, unsolved cases. There's one in particular that has gotten to Bosch, as he was the detective on the case years ago but they could never determine who killed Marie Gesto. Out of the blue, Bosch gets a call from the DA wondering where the files are because they have a murderer that wants to make a deal to escape the death penalty in exchange for giving up where he dumped Gesto's body. Bosch can't believe it. He pours over his notes once again to see if there was something he missed that would have pointed to the killer.

This isn't a typical solve-the-murder book. It brings a new element in of the DA's office and creating a deal with a criminal in exchange for information. It was quite an interesting way of telling a story. As always, the story grips you and you can't put the book down. I'm not sure how Bosch manages to get in to so many political problems in his career. In this book is no exception. The poor guy also has horrible luck with women. I only hope that by the end of the series he finally has someone that loves him.

First Line: "It was the car they had been looking for."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

The Space Between Us

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Fiction
In modern-day Bombay Bhima is an illiterate servant to an upper middle class Parsi woman, Sera. Bhima has worked for her for twenty years and shared in her sorrows and joys. Bhima lives in a slum with her pregnant granddaughter.

Both of these women have suffered at the hands of their husbands. Sera was abused and Bhima's husband became an alcoholic after an industrial accident.

Umrigar shows the unfortunate facts of being born a woman. Further there is the social stigma associated with class. Sera is so prejudiced that Bhima must use her own glass and cutlery when in Sera's house.

Bhima is trying so hard to improve her lot in life and is beaten down time and again. Umrigar shows how resilient she is and how she gets up and goes on.

I did enjoy the story but felt unfulfilled at the end and after reflection realize I just wasn't invested in the characters. It was an interesting story but the characters were 'flat' for me.

First Line: "The thin woman in the green sari stood on the slippery rocks and gazed at the dark waters around her."
Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Best Laid Plans

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Fiction
Daniel Addison is a former staffer for the Opposition Liberal Leader. He leaves Parliament Hill for a University position in the English department. But first,he needs to find and run a candidate in the safest Conservative riding in the country. Muriel Parkinson, the previous candidate five times over will help with the campaign, but not run for election again.

Daniel finally strikes a deal with his landlord, engineering professor Angus McLintock. Angus agrees to run, on the presumption that he doesn't have to do anything for the campaign, and will definitely lose. In return, Daniel will teach the English for Engineers course.

Of course all things do not run smoothly and Angus does win the election. Now we have a Member of Parliament with no axe to grind, no need to cozy up with anyone and will do what is 'right' for the country.

This was a humorous story not LOL but still funny. I have survived the English for Engineers course as a student and the author had this course 'down pat'. What I did not understand was why Daniel had to do anything when he left Parliament Hill but I guess this is the main premise of the book. I loved Angus and did grin when I imagined him stripping and jumping off the dock.

First Line: "I am Daniel Addison."
Rating:
(4.0/5)

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
Fiction

Seven year old Raami lives in luxury in the capital of Cambodia. She comes from royal lineage, has a nanny, and loves the flowers that the caretaker plants. Her world is torn apart when revolutionary soldiers of Khmer Rouge force everyone out of the capital. Raami's family moves to their summer home but soon get forced out of that as well. Their next home is a school, where they stay in a classroom. When soldiers enter the school and demand that Raami tell them who her father is, being only 7, Raami answers honestly. The soldiers are looking for highly educated, wealthy individuals, which almost guarantees the death of her father. The family is moved from place to place. They are broken up and brought back together. They meet many terrible people but there also a few warm-hearted people that help them stay alive. This is a heart wrenching story of a family getting torn apart during a war.

This novel is the first for author Vaddey Ratner but it reads like she's a seasoned writer. The writing is absolutely beautiful, but not in a way that only English Majors could understand. For me it was never hard to read.

The emotions described within this book are so raw and real. Ratner describes at the end of the book that the story is very close to her own. It's really amazing how much Raami understands and grows over the two years this book takes place. At the same time, Raami doesn't understand some things that the reader does which adds further to this novel.

Really, I don't think I can praise this novel enough. It's definitely my best read of the year so far and I imagine it will still be very high on the list by the time the year is done.

First Line: "War entered my childhood world not with the blasts of rockets and bombs but with my father's footsteps as he walked through the hallway, passing my bedroom towards his."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

Born in Death

Born in Death by J. D. Robb
Mystery
This time Eve Dallas has a very busy time. Two young lovers have been found murdered from the same accounting firm. That same accounting firm is making doubly sure that no information regarding their accounts will ever land in the police's hands.

At the same time Eve and Roarke attend the dreaded birthing coach's class and Eve is preparing for the baby shower that she is to give Mavis. Eve doesn't have a clue and Peabody helps her out. But Tandy Willowby, a friend from Mavis' birthing classes has gone missing and Mavis asks Eve to find her.  Eve struggles with all this estrogen in the air but she is such a true friend.

It almost feels as if there is just too much going on. Eve is stretched to the limit in this book. The writing is clever and the reader feels the tension and fatigue. I love the repartee between Eve and Somerset.

First Line: "The ways and means of friendship were murderous."
Rating:
(4.0/5)

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
Historical Fiction

Laura Petrosian is a novelist who wants to write the story of her grandparents. One is American-born Elizabeth and the other is Armenian Armen, both of whom were in Syria during the Armenian genocide. Laura researches her grandparent's past through pictures and letters at museums in the USA. She even finds letters between her grandmother and grandfather, which helps form the basis for the novel.

Elizabeth volunteered to travel to Aleppo with her dad as part of a Friends of Armenians mission. The atrocities she sees are unimaginable. She brings a woman and young child back to the American compound, saving them from being marched out to the dessert to either waste away or have their heads cut off as sword practice. She also meets a handsome young Armenian Armen who is trying to find his wife and child though suspects they too have been murdered. He soon gives up and travels to Egypt to enlist and fight against the Turks.

I knew nothing about the Armenian genocide prior to this novel. The way it was presented, it sounds like I'm not the only one. Getting the history lesson on this was very interesting, and the love story during the war read like it could be a true story.

The novel switched back and forth between present day and the past, but this really made things confusing at at the beginning. I think the story could have been told just as well, if not better, without referring to Laura trying to write a novel about her grandparents. This novel was well written and it was easy to connect with the characters.

First Line: "When my twin brother and I were small children, we would take turns sitting in our grandfather's lap."

Rating:
(4/5)