Category: Books

In The Lake of The Woods by Tim O’Brien

Books

This book was a recommendation from Stephan King’s book On Writing.  It was intriguing.  It has some mystery and a strange quality that keeps you hooked.  Well written.  A quick read because it doesn’t waste a word unnecessarily.  It lets you use your brain, which I love.  Novels that tell the story instead of letting the reader experience the story, I find a waste.  It’s about a man with a past and a secret he has kept for most his life.  His wife disappears.  The reader has insight that the police don’t.  That was the intriguing part.  Worth a read.

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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Books

  I picked up this novel in the library and the opening paragraph grabbed me.  The main character whom the reader gets to know gradually over the course of the first few chapters is a young women  who is a companion to a tyrannical American lady.  The young women comes to meet an older gentleman who has a secretive darkness about him.  So of course they fall in love.  The story gets even better.  There was a bit of mystery at every turn and a little romance early twentieth-century style.  The book has been around for awhile but it is still relevant today.  Daphne Du Maurier’s writing was rather risqué for her time. Her life itself is fascinating.  After I read the Afterword I feel like I should read this book again and find those hidden layers of meaning.  

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Enon by Paul Harding

Books

This is Paul Hardings second novel.  His first was critically acclaimed novel Tinkers.  Tinkers is on my list to read soon, they are connected but it isn’t necessary to read Tinkers first.    

 His novel Enon is a devastatingly sad story about a father who loses his young daughter and how he struggles with the loss.  I think the author really brings it home how loss can damage  the soul and wound the heart.  It changes who you are really, and the way you see the world.  Bits of hope shine through the story to keep the reader going.

Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks

Books

So I finished this book last night.  I was hooked immediately after the first few pages because the main character is an Archaeologist and a female to boot!   The setting is post WWII, my favourite time period.  This book seemed to have everything, a strong heroine, a lovestory and even Cowboys and Indians.  The author definitely did his homework with authentic cowboy jargon, and detailed imagery of the beauty of the wild horse.  It was delious food for thought.   

  

When The Saints by Sarah Mian

Books, Canada

This book is hilarious!!  A sad story of a young women who reunites with her disfunctional family.  This tale comes with a twist of wit told by the main character Tabitha Saint.  The author Sarah Mian is a genius at storytelling. A satisfying quick read, I couldn’t put in down.  

  

The Cat’s Table By Michael Ondaatje 

Books

I finished this book last week.  It took awhile to sink in, I let the words ruminate in my brain for awhile.  Firstly, well written, I don’t think I would still be thinking about it if it wasn’t.  It’s about an eleven-year old boys adventure on board a ship bound for England.  There were some Huckleberry Finn moments with his motley crew of friends.  This journey across sometimes turbulent waters lasted weeks but the experiences echoed throughout his life.  It ends with dark reveals and unanswered questions.  It’s definitely worth the read.