Call the Nurse: True Stories of a Country Nurse on a Scottish Isle
By Mary J. MacLeod
This is a memoir, written by a former nurse, now in her 80s!
It might seem like I've read a lot of books in a very short time, and it's true. I've been sick, and the only thing to do is read, read, read. Fortunately I had a good supply of readable books, and only one dud that I probably won't keep reading.
These stories were charming little anecdotes about the adventures of the nurse and her family on an island in the Hebrides. The stories are from the 70s when her idealist family left London to live a simpler life on these remote islands. Light, entertaining, and easy to read.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Sure.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
#96 The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
By Jenny Golgan
OK, chic lit. Does the title tell you that? Yes, but who can resist the two words "Paris" and "chocolate".
Clumsy Anna, works in a chocolate factory in London and fancies herself a chocolate expert. She has an accident at the factory, and ends up losing two of her toes and loses her job as well. Through a set of coincidences, she ends up with a job at a real chocolate shop in Paris. She packs up, moves there, and begins a strange apprenticeship of sorts with a renowned chocolatier. Anna is forced to learn the high art of making real chocolate, and yes, there is a romance involved. Hey, it's Paris after all.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Cute, light, includes recipes. If you like this kind of novel, sure.
By Jenny Golgan
OK, chic lit. Does the title tell you that? Yes, but who can resist the two words "Paris" and "chocolate".
Clumsy Anna, works in a chocolate factory in London and fancies herself a chocolate expert. She has an accident at the factory, and ends up losing two of her toes and loses her job as well. Through a set of coincidences, she ends up with a job at a real chocolate shop in Paris. She packs up, moves there, and begins a strange apprenticeship of sorts with a renowned chocolatier. Anna is forced to learn the high art of making real chocolate, and yes, there is a romance involved. Hey, it's Paris after all.
Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Cute, light, includes recipes. If you like this kind of novel, sure.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
#95 Underground Fugue
Underground Fugue
By Margot Singer
Yet another book about dealing with a dying mother! Gee, how am I managing to find these books?
Amanda returns to London from New York after her marriage breaks up, three years after the death of her only child. She deals with her dying mother and ultimate death. She meets an Iranian man who lives next door, divorced, with a troubled son.
The novel is told in the voices of the various characters, including the mother who travels back in her memory to her time growing up in easter Europe before WWII and how she, a Jew, escapes to England.
Javad, the Iranian doctor, also travels back in time to memories of his life growing up in Iran and his escape to England.
Ties in themes of racism in London, and includes the bombing of the London Underground as part of the plot.
Beautiful writing, though a rather unsatisfying ending.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure.
By Margot Singer
Yet another book about dealing with a dying mother! Gee, how am I managing to find these books?
Amanda returns to London from New York after her marriage breaks up, three years after the death of her only child. She deals with her dying mother and ultimate death. She meets an Iranian man who lives next door, divorced, with a troubled son.
The novel is told in the voices of the various characters, including the mother who travels back in her memory to her time growing up in easter Europe before WWII and how she, a Jew, escapes to England.
Javad, the Iranian doctor, also travels back in time to memories of his life growing up in Iran and his escape to England.
Ties in themes of racism in London, and includes the bombing of the London Underground as part of the plot.
Beautiful writing, though a rather unsatisfying ending.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Sure.
#94 Eat, Sleep, Cycle
Eat, Sleep, Cycle
By Anna Hughes
I always like reading travel books, and this one is about a bicycle trip around Great Britain. Not stellar writing, and not particularly interesting. Mostly about how hard the cycling was, the hills, and then onto the next town.
I would have preferred more about the places, the food, the people, rather than on and on about the cycling, though of course when you're on a long cycling trip, it really is all about the cycling and just getting to the next town.
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into cycling, sure.
By Anna Hughes
I always like reading travel books, and this one is about a bicycle trip around Great Britain. Not stellar writing, and not particularly interesting. Mostly about how hard the cycling was, the hills, and then onto the next town.
I would have preferred more about the places, the food, the people, rather than on and on about the cycling, though of course when you're on a long cycling trip, it really is all about the cycling and just getting to the next town.
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommendation: If you're into cycling, sure.
Friday, October 27, 2017
#93 The Outrun
The Outrun
By Amy Liptrot
A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.
So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.
The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.
She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.
By Amy Liptrot
A memoir. I don't usually read memoirs, and in fact, when I started reading this book I didn't realize that it was a memoir. I kept reading and couldn't quite figure out why nothing really happened and why it didn't feel like a novel. Then I realized, oh, it's was a memoir.
So I read most of it, but at the end it was getting kind of boring so I skimmed to the end.
The memoir is about a late 20s woman trying to get over 10 years of alcoholism. She was born on Orkney Island, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland. She lived there until her late teens, when she moved to London and quickly became an alcoholic.
She finally admits she has a problem and goes back to Orkney to get away from the booze and the scene of her downfall in London. She becomes enamoured of the natural beauty of Orkney, the birds, the ocean, the stars, as well as the local people. She lives for a winter on Papay, a smaller yet island off of Orkney.
Rating: 3/4
Recommendation: Interesting if you're into the life of a recovering alcoholic, if you now it's a memoir and like reading memoirs, and if you're interested in the natural world on a remote island north of Scotland.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
#92 Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
By Vicki Myron
I read this book years ago and loved it then. The good thing about getting old is you forget the books you've read and can read them again with equal interest.
Dewey is a gem. Of course, you have to like cats and stories about cats to appreciate this book. The story is so touching, from his miraculous rescue from an icy cold book box, to the many lives he touched during the years he lived at the Spencer Library.
Thank you Dewey.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like cats, you'll love this book. Of course, I love cats AND I love libraries, so this is a double hitter for me.
By Vicki Myron
I read this book years ago and loved it then. The good thing about getting old is you forget the books you've read and can read them again with equal interest.
Dewey is a gem. Of course, you have to like cats and stories about cats to appreciate this book. The story is so touching, from his miraculous rescue from an icy cold book box, to the many lives he touched during the years he lived at the Spencer Library.
Thank you Dewey.
Rating: 5/5
Recommendation: If you like cats, you'll love this book. Of course, I love cats AND I love libraries, so this is a double hitter for me.
#91 Hope Has Two Daughters
Hope Has Two Daughters
By Monia Mazigh
A novel about Tunisia. Where is Tunisia anyway? In Northern Africa, close to Morocco.
A young woman grows up in Tunis, during the time of the bread riots of 1984. She longs for escape and freedom from the repression of the political regime. Chance leads her to the American library at the embassy, and she starts reading English novels. She meets a young Canadian computer technician, and they fall in love. The couple marries, but Nadia is disowned by her parents. She moves to Canada and the couple starts their life.
The novel is told in alternating times and voices. Nadia's voice tells her story in 1984, and her daughter Lila's voice tells her story in 2011.
In 2011, Nadia sends her daughter Lila to Tunisia to improve her Arabic. She stays with old friends of her mother. Lila becomes involved with another political movement which leads to an uprising and a revolt against the current leader, who is finally deposed by the will of the people.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Written by a Tunisian Canadian. An interesting read, though the writing is somewhat simple. It could almost be a teen novel.
By Monia Mazigh
A novel about Tunisia. Where is Tunisia anyway? In Northern Africa, close to Morocco.
A young woman grows up in Tunis, during the time of the bread riots of 1984. She longs for escape and freedom from the repression of the political regime. Chance leads her to the American library at the embassy, and she starts reading English novels. She meets a young Canadian computer technician, and they fall in love. The couple marries, but Nadia is disowned by her parents. She moves to Canada and the couple starts their life.
The novel is told in alternating times and voices. Nadia's voice tells her story in 1984, and her daughter Lila's voice tells her story in 2011.
In 2011, Nadia sends her daughter Lila to Tunisia to improve her Arabic. She stays with old friends of her mother. Lila becomes involved with another political movement which leads to an uprising and a revolt against the current leader, who is finally deposed by the will of the people.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Written by a Tunisian Canadian. An interesting read, though the writing is somewhat simple. It could almost be a teen novel.
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