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Ewa Wojciechowska
The Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
Bloomsbury Publishing (2015)
This romantic fantasy for young adults* has been described as “thrilling, seductive and action-packed.” It follows the journey of a huntress Feyre Acheron into the dangerous realm of the Fae, where she unwittingly kills a member of this faerie land and loses her freedom. While Feyre is held captive, her feelings for her captor turn from hostility to passion. In this first of a five-book series, Feyre must face her demons and learn what she is capable of.
*Contains mature subject matter
Bruce Burk
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
Harper One (2019)
In this book, British illustrator, artist, and author Mackesy provides a journey for all ages, eight to eighty, to explore universal lessons as revealed in the conversation between a curious boy and his three new friends, as they walk along sharing their hopes and fears. The boy is filled with questions. The mole is greedy for cake. The fox is wary from life’s pain, and the horse, though the largest, is the gentlest. Each character representing life’s truths from their unique perspective.
This literary, graphic novel features 100 color and black and white drawings, and as described by the New York Times: “…not only a thought-provoking discussion-worthy story, the book itself is an object of art.” This book makes a perfect gift for young and old, family and friend.
David Henshaw
The Silent Oligarch
by Christopher Morgan Jones
Penguin Books (2011)
Jones writes from personal experience having worked at the world’s largest business intelligence agency and having advised governments, oligarchs, mining companies, and hedge funds. The publisher describes this novel of international intrigue as “…a heart-pounding hunt around the world…where the wealthy buy the justice they want-and the silence they need.”
This is the first Ben Webster novel in a series where British investigator Webster peels back layers of the antagonist, Malin’s shell companies and criminal networks, exposing in fiction the realities of our time.
Patty O’Brien
Nickel Boys
by Colin Whitehead
Doubleday (2019)
Based on the real story of the Dozier School, this winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction explores the abuse at this Florida reform school. The narrative alternates between 2010’s and the 1960’s, as told by the adult, Elwood Curtis, a successful African American business owner and Elwood Curtis, the high school student, who was wrongfully sent to Nickel Academy, a juvenile reformatory.
This is more than a tale of injustice. It is a story of friendship, perseverance, and dignity. It is a moving recollection to redemption.
Recommendation and reiew by Roberta Yarker Smith
The Word is Murder
by Anthony Horowitz
Harper (2017)
This “brilliant, fun, well-written” crime novel was published in 2017, a sequel to “The Sentence is Death.” Anthony Horowitz has written a number of successful mystery novels and collaborated on several popular TV programs such as “Foyle’s War”, Midsomer Murders” and the James Bond series. He writes for both adults and children, with equal ease and accomplishment. He has said that he discovered early in life that he had a gift for story-telling and has written professionally since the age of twenty.
Chosen by “The Guardian” as Best Thriller of the Year, the author of this this novel becomes an important character in it. Horowitz has written that the idea of being a character in his own novel appealed to him as it would reverse the knowledge he would normally have of the plot (total control) to that of merely being a character who has only selective information. He also likes being able to impose modern technology (emails, texts etc.) into what he considers his fondness for the old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-like plots.
I really enjoyed this book and found the antipathy between Horowitz and the detective, Hawthorne, very engaging, especially as the reader, like the character of Horowitz, has to admire Hawthorne’s ability to recognize crucial details which lead to the solution. I agree with the reviewer who found this “a clever, droll and highly-entertaining mystery”. I hope you may too.
The Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
Bloomsbury Publishing (2015)
This romantic fantasy for young adults* has been described as “thrilling, seductive and action-packed.” It follows the journey of a huntress Feyre Acheron into the dangerous realm of the Fae, where she unwittingly kills a member of this faerie land and loses her freedom. While Feyre is held captive, her feelings for her captor turn from hostility to passion. In this first of a five-book series, Feyre must face her demons and learn what she is capable of.
*Contains mature subject matter
Bruce Burk
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
Harper One (2019)
In this book, British illustrator, artist, and author Mackesy provides a journey for all ages, eight to eighty, to explore universal lessons as revealed in the conversation between a curious boy and his three new friends, as they walk along sharing their hopes and fears. The boy is filled with questions. The mole is greedy for cake. The fox is wary from life’s pain, and the horse, though the largest, is the gentlest. Each character representing life’s truths from their unique perspective.
This literary, graphic novel features 100 color and black and white drawings, and as described by the New York Times: “…not only a thought-provoking discussion-worthy story, the book itself is an object of art.” This book makes a perfect gift for young and old, family and friend.
David Henshaw
The Silent Oligarch
by Christopher Morgan Jones
Penguin Books (2011)
Jones writes from personal experience having worked at the world’s largest business intelligence agency and having advised governments, oligarchs, mining companies, and hedge funds. The publisher describes this novel of international intrigue as “…a heart-pounding hunt around the world…where the wealthy buy the justice they want-and the silence they need.”
This is the first Ben Webster novel in a series where British investigator Webster peels back layers of the antagonist, Malin’s shell companies and criminal networks, exposing in fiction the realities of our time.
Patty O’Brien
Nickel Boys
by Colin Whitehead
Doubleday (2019)
Based on the real story of the Dozier School, this winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction explores the abuse at this Florida reform school. The narrative alternates between 2010’s and the 1960’s, as told by the adult, Elwood Curtis, a successful African American business owner and Elwood Curtis, the high school student, who was wrongfully sent to Nickel Academy, a juvenile reformatory.
This is more than a tale of injustice. It is a story of friendship, perseverance, and dignity. It is a moving recollection to redemption.
Recommendation and reiew by Roberta Yarker Smith
The Word is Murder
by Anthony Horowitz
Harper (2017)
This “brilliant, fun, well-written” crime novel was published in 2017, a sequel to “The Sentence is Death.” Anthony Horowitz has written a number of successful mystery novels and collaborated on several popular TV programs such as “Foyle’s War”, Midsomer Murders” and the James Bond series. He writes for both adults and children, with equal ease and accomplishment. He has said that he discovered early in life that he had a gift for story-telling and has written professionally since the age of twenty.
Chosen by “The Guardian” as Best Thriller of the Year, the author of this this novel becomes an important character in it. Horowitz has written that the idea of being a character in his own novel appealed to him as it would reverse the knowledge he would normally have of the plot (total control) to that of merely being a character who has only selective information. He also likes being able to impose modern technology (emails, texts etc.) into what he considers his fondness for the old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-like plots.
I really enjoyed this book and found the antipathy between Horowitz and the detective, Hawthorne, very engaging, especially as the reader, like the character of Horowitz, has to admire Hawthorne’s ability to recognize crucial details which lead to the solution. I agree with the reviewer who found this “a clever, droll and highly-entertaining mystery”. I hope you may too.
