2.5 The beautiful images of the Nile and the Egyptian landscape could not overcome some the flaws in this book. I enjoyed reading about Taita and how h2.5 The beautiful images of the Nile and the Egyptian landscape could not overcome some the flaws in this book. I enjoyed reading about Taita and how he cleverly hid the Pharaoh’s tomb. Some of the discoveries were so remarkable. But the side story of the romance between Nicholas Quentin-Harper and the Egyptian archeologist, Rohan Al Simma, was just too much. The adventure was exciting to see how their expedition to uncover the Pharaoh’s tomb was like watching an Indiana Jones movie. But this Sir Nicholas character was invincible. He seemed to know how to do everything. And how was his intentions to retrieve the artifacts any more noble than the German villain of the story? They both want it for their own personal gain and private collection. In fact Harper has quite the debt load. Poor rich aristocrat. Even the ending didn’t save the story for me. If this was pared down like less than fifty pages to describe how to build a dam, then I would have enjoyed this much more. Unfortunately it felt like a slog for most of the time, and the few good moments weren’t enough....more
“A winter wind was blowing through the canyon of her soul.”
What can I say? Sarah Chorn has a beautiful writing style. She always has numerous pictures“A winter wind was blowing through the canyon of her soul.”
What can I say? Sarah Chorn has a beautiful writing style. She always has numerous picturesque phrases, that you feel in your bones. This story first reads like fiction and the wife, Joy, reads as the perfect spouse. Then the science fiction kicks in, and my jealous feelings for the character’s perfection are addressed and explained. It was quite the personal journey and exploration of Self. The ending completely surprised me. It was a bittersweet moment. You cannot help but feel things when reading SC’s books. So be ready to be amazed....more
4.5 This was a book that was recommended. I wouldn’t have read such a book otherwise. It was full of business, politics, economics, and greed. But sur 4.5 This was a book that was recommended. I wouldn’t have read such a book otherwise. It was full of business, politics, economics, and greed. But surprisingly I enjoyed it very much.
The first chapter began with a double murder which was so compelling then to find out why. So it was a great start. The main protagonist is Bassianus Arcadius Severus explained his selfish decisions with quite the droll banter. He explained all his choices with logic that made sense to him. He would seem to be the villain in another story, but you couldn’t help and like him. But as luck would have it, and he had lots of luck, most events resulted in his favor.
Antigonus, Aelis, and Bassano were great complementary characters to Basso. They were everything that he wasn’t: true, loyal, decent, kind, compassionate. Or so Basso thought he wasn’t. Even though there were battles to dominate various lands, these were not the ultimate enemy. Basso’s sister, Lina, ended up being his Achilles’ heel. No matter what she threw at him, he just couldn’t fight back because she was one of the only people in the world he loved.
Because there were a few very long political and economical descriptions that I found hard to follow, I couldn’t give this five stars. Some of it was done very well especially when Bassano was writing the events to his uncle. And there was a weird reference to Alice in Wonderland which pulled me out of the story.
This was a great read overall and Basso was a remarkable and memorable character....more
Backman can weave a lovely story. He takes a small town with down-and-out people and slowly, meticulously joins the different lives together. Britt-MaBackman can weave a lovely story. He takes a small town with down-and-out people and slowly, meticulously joins the different lives together. Britt-Marie is first seen in the My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You I’m Sorry novel. She is another interesting and most quirky person, whom Backman is so good at depicting. Her marriage ends and she reflects: “It’s difficult to know when love blooms; suddenly one day you wake up and it’s in full flower. It works the same way when it wilts- one day it is too late. Love has a great deal in common with balcony plants in that way. Sometimes not even baking soda makes a difference.” She’s also a cleaning fanatic, and I got some good tips from her. We find out about her sister and their relationship. “Plants remind her of Ingrid, because Ingrid loved things that were alive. And for this reason Britt-Marie repeatedly saved home,es plants, to give her the strength to remember a sister whose life she was not even able to save once.” So Britt-Marie looks for a job now at the age of 63, and boy what a situation she finds herself in! Scruffy children, cantankerous and odd neighbors, a sweet police officer, and a ruin down town need a recreation center boss. She finds out that here there are people who need her. “Because it’s the first time in an absolute age that anyone has told Britt-Marie it’s important for her to be somewhere. Soccer is a curious game in that way. Because it doesn’t ask to be loved.” She has such odd opinions and reactions to life events, it’s so very funny. She even speaks her inner thoughts to a rat! She thinks about her new life in Borg, and while looking at a map, she reflects: “Sometimes it’s easier to go on living, not even knowing who you are, when at least you know precisely where you are while you go on not knowing.” Such remarks one must truly read a few times, and consider the words. Backman is just so good at pulling this story together. Britt-Marie needs these townsfolk but they also need her. It’s a wonderful journey to read about and see where her road leads. Just slightly disappointed with an incomplete ending, that’s left to the reader to decide what happens. However I like to think in a positive light, that she enjoys what comes next. And soccer is an important character in this book as well: “Soccer forces life to move on. There’s always a new match. A new season. There’s a,ways a dream that everything can get better. It’s a game of wonders.”...more
I’m so glad that I finally took the time to read this book. “Tragedy has a way of making saints out of sinners.” Gut wrenching, poignant, vengeful, repI’m so glad that I finally took the time to read this book. “Tragedy has a way of making saints out of sinners.” Gut wrenching, poignant, vengeful, repentant, love and hate, tragedy, and goodness So many different descriptive words can depict this story. A small California town and a small Montana are the locations where events unfold. Duchess Day Radley, 13, finds herself to be the adult in the house to her 6 year old brother and mother. Terrible things have already happened in the past and now new tragedy spins her world out of control. Not much good comes her way but there are moments of kindness in this bleak world. Walk, Martha May, Dolly, and Hal are the good ones who fight the good fight to make life worth living.
About Walk: “That pure belief, in good and bad and love. You never said anything, about my father, about what he did. You never told anyone. Even though I left you behind, and Star went to another school, and it was just you, and this thing.” Duchess, who had to grow up fast: “…all this beauty, all this that you see and you think I see too. You should know it pales beside what I saw before. this purple makes me think of her ribs, beat dark like that. The blue water, that’s her eyes, clear enough to see there’s no soul behind them anymore. You breathe the air and you think it’s fresh, but I can’t even take a breath without feeling that stab.”
The dark characters have different aspects to them that are slowly revealed. Things that I guessed were very often wrong while reading this murder mystery in fact. I had no idea how the story would end and it was a surprise-bittersweet. A heart wrenching story told beautifully....more
This was a beautiful story about two young lives, one female American, and one male from war torn Belfast. This conflict was so well depicted and highThis was a beautiful story about two young lives, one female American, and one male from war torn Belfast. This conflict was so well depicted and highlighted through the two different families from the two different sides of history, Catholic and Protestant. It also shone a light on the role of the UK government in all of this. This was not a subject I knew much about, and this filled that emptiness of ignorance. Until the end was I wondering and routing for Danny and Fiona’s story....more
A very Interesting story about a “dead” sister who is seen on tv 15 years after her alleged death. The surviving sister goes to look for her. The firsA very Interesting story about a “dead” sister who is seen on tv 15 years after her alleged death. The surviving sister goes to look for her. The first half of the book travels back and forth in time and you learn about the sisters’ strange upbringing and how their childhood affected them as adults. Although their history was interesting, it took a long time for the sisters to meet and see how they reacted to each other. I wavered from liking and disliking the book. But people are multidimensional. No one is all good or all bad. There are tragic events revealed to explain behaviors. By the end, I did enjoy this novel....more
This story holds the ethereal atmosphere in its hands that represent the beautiful yet eerie Black Forest. There’s magic hidden in its woods. There’s This story holds the ethereal atmosphere in its hands that represent the beautiful yet eerie Black Forest. There’s magic hidden in its woods. There’s some lovely prose here. It’s winter during the twelve nights: “The snow had become a flickering, fast and impetuous, as though the wind - or perhaps it was already a storm - were in control now, steering the snowflakes, the night, his footsteps.” But Manfred is a troubled soul and returns home to reconcile but I found him difficult to forgive. He commits a terrible vengeance which I can’t understand. His jealousy is too much to behold. But the wintry atmosphere is a great metaphor for his past, dark deeds and whether he will be forgiven....more
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