Review: Double Jeopardy

Double Jeopardy by William Bernhardt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An intriguing new character inhabits this book. A former cop who is now a defense attorney puts a completely different spin on what it means to defend clients, even when you strongly detest them. This book builds through multiple unexpected turns to a very rewarding conclusion. The only reason I can't give it five stars is that I think this character has more in store for us and I want to be able to reward his growth and development. Please give us another book starring this intriguing character. 

A very good read.

Review: Dreams of Joy

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just had to read this book, the second in the Shanghi Girls series. What a read this was! If there is even an ounce of truth in this story, it is just so shocking.

Joy discovers that the woman she thought was her mother is actually her aunt. She has been attending meetings relating to The Chinese government and believe that communism is the way to go. In her thinking she decides to run away to China to "help" with the revolution.

An excellent read.

Review: Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second book that I have read by this author and Lisa See is becoming one of my favourite authors. It is always a joy to learn about other cultures, their differences and how we are all connected.

This is the story of two sisters, born and raised in Shanghi and both very beautiful. When the communists came, their lives became hardships. This is their story of how their father arranged marriages for them to a man with two sons, who lived in the US. 

An excellent read and I am looking forward to the second book in the series.

Review: Operation Angus

Operation Angus by Terry Fallis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Angus is back with his side kick Daniel Addison and all their whacky friends. This time Angus and Daniel become involved in a plot to kill the Russian president on his trip to Ottawa. The problem is that nobody in the security department takes Angus and Daniel seriously and if anything they completely ignore them, won't answer their calls and just hang up on them.  

A terrific story and so nice to meet up with Angus again. I am hoping that Mr. Fallis will give us more. 

An excellent read.

Review: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, put simply, was the best and most honest memoir that I have read. This lovely girl/woman lays bare her life, in all the honesty that you will ever experience. I am so glad that I just happened upon this memoir and also looking forward to reading everything else that Ms. Gay has written.

Roxane Gay says....."writing this book is the most difficult thing I've ever done. Too lay myself so vulnerable has not been an easy thing. To face myself and what living in my body has been like has not been an easy thing, but I wrote this book because it felt necessary. In writing this memoir of my body, and telling you these truths about my body, I am sharing my truth and mine alone. I understand if that truth is not something you want to hear. The truth makes me uncomfortable too. But I am also saying, here is my heart, what's left of it. Here I am showing you the ferocity of my hunger. Here I am, finally freeing myself to be vulnerable and terribly human. Here I am, revealing and that freedom. Here. See what I hunger for and with my truth has allowed me to create".

An excellent read worth many more than five stars.

Review: His & Hers

His & Hers by Alice Feeney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.

This story kept me guessing right up to the end. 

Review: Gracelin O'Malley

Gracelin O'Malley by Ann Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderfully written historical fiction. Ireland during the 1840's potato famine and uprising.

Gracelin O'Malley is a young girl who has lost her mother but has two brothers, her father and her grandmother. Her father strikes up a marriage bargain for her with a rich English landowner. All is ok for awhile but soon Grace learns that she is only there to supply a male heir and when that falls flat, her husband, Bram becomes violent.

Life is a tremendous struggle for the Irish people during these times. You become very attached to all the characters in the book and look forward to the continuation of the story.

A thoroughly enjoyable and educational read.  

Review: The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adored this book. It was/is a bit hard to actually explain. Two women, one 17 and the other 83 are in the hospital in what is termed as the terminal ward. They come together to tell the stories of their lives and to help each other. This description that defines the book says it all:

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT Marianne Cronin
This debut novel from a young British writer is a delight, and not just for its non-linear structure and unconventional chapter lengths, some as short as five sentences. Lenni Pettersson, the 17-year-old protagonist, may be in hospital dying from an undisclosed illness, but her sass and wicked sense of humour – particularly when she devises a scheme to fill the empty pews in the hospital chapel – will have the reader laughing out loud. She is always devising new ways to get sprung from her hospital room, which is how she ends up meeting, befriending and exasperating the chaplain, Father Arthur. She also manages to enrol in an art therapy program for seniors, over the objections of a kind staffer she calls New Nurse. When she meets Margot Macrae, 83, and realizes their ages add up to 100, Lenni dreams up an art project that launches a deep friendship and offers a framework for the book, which unfolds as the unlikely pair reveal themselves to each other.

The beauty of the book lays in its depiction of Margot as a fully drawn character, not a doddering old woman, who is a bit of a rebel herself and has lived a full life. Then there is Lenni, who may be dying, but is trying her damndest to live to the max.

This book poses the central question of our lives: What does it all mean? How can we make our mark? It will have you confronting your mortality with a smile on your face, not to mention the existence of God.