Saturday, July 28, 2018

Reading - The Wonder

 The Wonder by Emma Donoghue



Lib Wright, an English nurse brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle-a girl said to have survived without food for months-soon finds herself fighting to save the child's life.

Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl.  But as she gets to know the girl, over the long days they spend together, Lib becomes more and more unsure.  Is Anna a fraud, or a 'living wonder'?  Or is something more sinister unfolding right before Lib's eyes, a tragedy in which she herself is playing a part ?

Reading - Paris for One and Other Stories

Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes



Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She's never even been on a romantic weekend away—to anywhere—before. Traveling abroad isn't really her thing. But when Nell's boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone—including herself—wrong. Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life? Funny, charming, and irresistible, Paris for One is quintessential Jojo Moyes—as are the other stories that round out the collection.

Reading - Coffin Road

Coffin Road by Peter May


On the remote Isle of Harris in Scotland's Outer Hebrides, a man washes up on a deserted beach, hypothermic and completely disoriented. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. The only clue to his condition is a map of the island showing a desolate, ancient path called the Coffin Road. With a sense of dread and no clear idea what lies at the other end, he knows he must follow the trail if he has any hope of discovering his identity.

Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. And now there is a new tragedy, and Gunn must figure out what happened.

At the same time, a teenage girl lies in her Edinburgh bedroom, desperate to discover the truth about her father's death. Two years after the discovery of the pioneering scientist's suicide note, Karen Fleming still cannot accept that her father would willingly abandon her. And the more she discovers about the nature of his research, the more she suspects that suicide had nothing to do with it.

Saturday, July 07, 2018

Reading - The 91-Storey Treehouse

The 91-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

A Junior Fiction



Andy and Terry live in a 91-story treehouse. (It used to be a 78-story treehouse, but they keep getting ideas for new stories!) It has a submarine sandwich shop that serves sandwiches the size of actual submarines, an air-traffic control tower, a human pinball machine, a spin-and-win prize wheel, a giant spider web―with a giant spider!― and a big red button, which they’re not sure whether to push or not because they can’t remember what it does.
Good thing there’s so many fun things to do in the treehouse, because Andy and Terry get stuck babysitting Mr. Big Nose’s three grandchildren for the day.
After all, how much trouble could they possibly get into in just one day?