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Briddey works for a telecommunications group in the UK and seems to have a near perfect life. She is in the middle of a whirlwind courtship with a handsome co-worker who is eager to bring them even closer by having a new procedure done that will let them speak in feelings to one another - a psychic connection. She knows her nosy family won't approve but it is hard to get away from all there phone calls and drop-ins to her place and family gatherings. It will take one nerdy eccentric inventor who hides out in the basement to try and help Briddey set things right after they go horribly wrong. With a little help from C.B. Briddey might be able to sift through all the noise and find her heart. Connie Willis gives us a tongue and cheek look at the modern communication age with all its pitfalls. The technology is close enough to be scary and the characters are lovable. In this 24/7 world where we are totally on, totally available where everyone knows everything you do - is there room for secrets or love? 
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Epic that follows such a diverse group of characters into the hot dry Southwest where the great General Pancho Villa is dragging his ragtag army waging war against everyone- the Mexican Army and the Americans who get in his way. He was personified by journalists and early movie reels as being a brave General passionately leading his army against huge odds but what we learn here is his other darker side - the rage and uncontrollable violence sometimes without reason. During the late 1800's many East coast American barons held considerable land and mining rights in Mexico and throughout Texas and it is one family whose ill timed trip will result in having children kidnapped ,others killed and a manhunt chasing Pancho Villa through desert and mountains in heat and hailstorms. The violence of the landscape many times matched the people who lived there and fought to survive. Famous characters are sprinkled in to help illustrate the diversity - the Hollywood cowboy Tom Mix, Generals Pershing and Patton and there is name dropping of all the founding fathers of the Industrial Revolution who started our thirst for oil and coal. The easy going style found in Winston Groom's other book "Forrest Gump" is used here to help soften the violence and add little touches of innocence. It is an epic worthy of James Michener or Larry McMurtry.  Nina gets downsized from a British library and her library is disbanded so she packs up and heads north for life's next opportunity. Little did she know that she would purchase a ramshackle old van and become a mobile bookstore for a small town in Scotland. She meets an interesting assortment of men from a quiet Latvian railway man to her grumpy farmer landlord and as she brings them a new world through books they begin to teach her a new life. Nina has a lifeline in her friend and old roommate as she tries to bridge her old life in the city and new one in the country. Soon her "Happy Ever After" bookshop has become a mainstay in the little town but can Nina find her own happy ever after? Quiet and sweet with characters you come to care about.  A couple who is reeling from a violent break - in has the chance for a getaway and house swap in a Paris apartment. The problems begin as soon as they arrive and the apartment is not as advertised - it is a hovel , the other couple never arrived at their house and they can't use their credit cards. Worse yet, a crazy woman throws herself off their balcony to her death. Mark is reeling from his past marriage and is starting to hallucinate that he sees his dead daughter everywhere. Classic haunted house story.  As with his other books Herman Koch gives us a storyline we think we know, characters we think we understand and then he pulls the rug from under the reader and ends the story with a surprise. The story begins with an unknown narrator who pens letters to a once famous and respected author letting him know that he is not alone. The letter writer is not a fan of Mr. M , his books or the way he handled the story of a very real event that the letter writer was a part of. The letter writer keeps egging on Mr. M who is actually his neighbor and we the reader, are delightfully pulled in. There are parts of the book that deal with the state of Holland and the war that could have been deleted in the translation but then the true crochetty nature of Mr. M would not have been complete. I love that one of the main characters is named Herman! Twisty and deceptive, this thriller will have you staying up to the bitter end.  Nina gets downsized from a British library and her library is disbanded so she packs up and heads north for life's next opportunity. Little did she know that she would purchase a ramshackle old van and become a mobile bookstore for a small town in Scotland. She meets an interesting assortment of men from a quiet Latvian railway man to her grumpy farmer landlord and as she brings them a new world through books they begin to teach her a new life. Nina has a lifeline in her friend and old roommate as she tries to bridge her old life in the city and new one in the country. Soon her "Happy Ever After" bookshop has become a mainstay in the little town but can Nina find her own happy ever after? Quiet and sweet with characters you come to care about.  Another mad cap adventure in America's sunny playground - the Florida Keys. There is an interesting new scam going on around town that involves a razor, a scantily clad redheaded woman and a car accident. Needless to say the victims of this bump scheme are always men. Merry never has any problem with them once they get an eye full of her but sometimes things don't always work out when you hit the wrong car. Her boyfriend and partner doesn't help matters much and soon they are in over their heads. There is also a reality-tv star that has a bad habit of putting his foot in his mouth at a publicity event and goes running for his life, the handler agent who must find him before everything goes to pot and Andrew Yancey who just wants to give up being a food inspection officer and get his old life back. Crazy people who can't possibly be based on real people doing things that you hope against all hope aren't based in reality. You will laugh out loud at the antics - great summer beach read (ok, maybe not if you are in the Keys).  |
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