Do you have a book you read in school that you swore was the worst book ever? Have you ever thought that maybe your teachers weren't out to torture you, and there may have been a method to their madness after all? Then the July Challenge is for you!

Details on the challenge can be found here...check it out, and join us!

Recently I borrowed a mystery or two from the library... read them, returned them, borrowed more, borrowed more, borrowed more -- and I suspect that at this rate I'll accidentally read 50 mysteries by the end of the month, let alone the year. I grew up on Cam Jansen and Encyclopedia Brown, glutted myself with Sherlock Holmes and have long been infatuated with Andrew Greeley's Blackie Ryan novels. (Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend them now -- they're just so problematic in terms of race and gender). That said, the first 11 mysteries I read this go-round...

1. Con Ed by Matthew Klein. Quirky, twisty Big Con story about reformed confidence man Kip Largo who gets sucked back into the game. [Amazon]. This was lots of fun; I liked the protagonist, the voice was solid, the plotting was twisty and compelling. It put me in the mood for reading more stories about cons and heists. A bit more gratuitous violence than I really enjoy, but mostly I was sold.

2. Inadmissible Evidence by Philip Friedman. Hard-boiled legal drama. Joe Estrada, the protagonist, is a DA assigned to retry a murder case against Roberto Morales. [Amazon]. I haven't read much legal fiction but was excited to give it a try. This was fairly lengthy but an excellent read, compelling and intricate. The thrills come from the investigation and digging deeper into the complex history of the defendant, the victim, and their acquaintances. There was a romantic subplot that was meh and a racial identity subplot that didn't ring true for me, but I found the surface characterization -- character's voices and actions and accomplishments -- quite good. Again, put me in the mood to read more of the same.

3. Diplomatic Immunity by Grant Sutherland. Theoretically, international diplomacy thriller. I was hoping for something West Wing-esque. There's a murder in the United Nations headquarters in NYC; Legal Deputy Sam Windrush is put in charge of the investigation and must sort out complex personal and international motivations. [Amazon]. The mystery itself was well-plotted, and the motivations of all the villains made sense. They came across as complex characters. The nonvillains, on the other hand, were... all basically jerks, and I came away from the novel shaking my head in disgust at the general idiocy of 90% of the characters. A+ for the mystery, C- for the characterization.

4. Absolute Certainty by Rose Conners. Legal drama set on Cape Cod. Martha Nickerson is a DA; she ends up investigating a series of possibly-linked murders and questioning the nature of the criminal justice system as she does. [Amazon]. Um. It was a fast read, but that's about all I can say for it. More maudlin and homespun than I care for, not enough hardcore legalese, and while the solution to the crime worked, the resolution of the book really didn't work for me. I'm not excited to read more by this author.

5. Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein. Another NYC legal thriller. Alexandra Cooper is an assistant DA on the sex crimes beat (the author plays a similar role in real life, as I understand it). When an actress is murdered in her Cape Cod summer home, Alex deals with the personal fall-out and assists with the investigation while working her regular sex crimes job. [Amazon]. I loved this a lot. The plotting worked, the characterization was excellent, and her sidekick, Homicide Cop Mike (I'm starting to think cops named Mike are a thing. There's one in Diplomatic Immunity too, and Blackie Ryan has an ex-cop sidekick named Mike), is awesome awesome. The details about Alex's job weren't overdone; it never felt like Fairstin was lecturing or that it was too-too autobiographical. I have the next three books in the series in my pile.

6. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Precious Ramotswe uses her inheritance from her father to become the first female PI in Botswana. In this volume, we learn her backstory and follow her as she investigates a set of domestic crimes and one quite serious kidnapping/witchcraft case. [Amazon]. Oh.my.god. So good. Very popular with good reason -- the writing was so warm and delicious, the characters and their voices so well-realized... it's so cozy and domestic and wonderful. Mma Ramotswe is amazingly amazing and I just want to crawl inside this universe and luxuriate in it. I did find parts of this book a trifle slow -- I didn't care as much for Ramotswe's father's history or for all the backstory -- but still. Wonderful. So much so that I went out and read:

7. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith, second book in the series. In which Mma Ramotswe's fiance finds himself the guardian of two children, and Mma Ramotswe investigates a decade-old mystery of an American boy gone missing in Botswana. [Amazon]. I think I found this even more delicious than the first book, because there was less backstory and more daily life. And the children -- especially the girl -- are so wonderful I want to *squish* them and love them and gah. The next four books in the series are sitting in my pile, and meanwhile, I set out looking for more cozies, because you can't get cozier than this.

8. Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann. (Translated from German by Anthea Bell). When their shepherd is murdered, a flock of sheep set out to find his killer and avenge his death. [Amazon]. It's a detective story. With sheep. SHEEP. The sheep are brilliant, the characterization of the sheep is brilliant, the philosophy and psychology and worldview of the sheep is brilliant, the mystery is nice but THE SHEEP. The sheep are excellent. It's cute, of course, but never descends into twee-ness or takes itself too seriously. There are a few moments where it veers off into the absurd, but all in all, SHEEP. DETECTIVE SHEEP.

9. The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie. Thirteen short stories featuring Christie's village spinster detective, Miss Jane Marple, besting assembled company at little puzzles involving (mostly) murders. Miss Marple's detection strategy involves comparing the facts of presented cases to her knowledge of human nature acquired through village life and gossip. [Amazon]. So I was in the mood for cozy mysteries, and just about every female detective I encountered was compared to the illustrious Miss Marple, so I felt I had to meet her for myself. These short stories are chronologically first and provide a neat introduction to Miss Marple and the Christie. Some of the stories' twists relied on puns or specialized knowledge that completely went over my head, but all of them were charming, and you don't get much cozier than a bunch of villagefolk sitting around on Tuesday nights drinking tea and talking mystery. This was an easy read, and I was intrigued enough to seek out more Marple/Christine books.

10. The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. The first Miss Marple novel, this mystery concerns the murder of a crotchety old man almost universally despised. Miss Marple can, off the top of her head, think of seven people who would benefit directly from his death. The book is narrated by the vicar, who becomes a bit of an amateur detective himself. [Amazon]. The mystery itself feels fairly typical -- enjoyable, full of twists and red herrings and hidden scandals and all sorts of deliciousness, but nothing to write home about -- what I enjoyed most about this was the details of parish life, the vicar going about his vicarly duties, his relationship with his curate, and his much-younger wife Griselda and the twists and turns in their relationship. I quite like Christie's first-person narration style; I think some of her best characterization happens this way.

11. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. The second Miss Marple novel, with some characters recurring from The Thirteen Problems. The body of a young dancer is discovered in the library of the perfectly respectable Bantry household. Local police and Miss Marple are both called in to investigate. [Amazon]. This was told in the third person, and much of the detecting action took place away from Miss Marple's home village of St. Mary Meade, and I found the book as a whole not quite as enjoyable as the previous one. Still good enough, though, to keep me hooked on the series -- I'm almost done with the next book as we speak.

Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuscinski, 2004, 275 pages. Translation copyright 2005 by Klara Glowczewska.

Genre: travel writing, international, history, mythology

Basic Overview: Kapuscinski, who until his death in 2007 was Poland's chief international correspondent, writes this time about the effect that Herodotus's Histories had on his life as a journalist. Drawing on Herodotus's work, written in approximately 525 BCE, and on his journalistic ventures from 1957-1979 in such diverse places as India, China, Iran, and a multitude of African countries, Kapuscinski illuminates, reminisces, and describes.

Personal Opinion: I was really disappointed in this book. Earlier this year I read Kapuscinski's The Shadow of the Sun, about his journalistic exploits in Africa, and it was one of the best books - and definitely the best travel writing I have ever read. Unable to obtain a copy of Kapuscinski's Imperium, which I had hoped to read next, I picked this volume up by chance. I am not a fan of ancient history or of Greco-Roman mythology, and this book has both in spades. It was an effort for me to drag myself through seemingly endless pages of the exploits of Cyrus, or Croesus, or Darius, in a search for the next bit of modern-day writing.

There were some sunny sides. I found a few amusing anecdotes, discovered that as recently as 1960 the Sudan was not a country, and was fascinated by Kapuscinski's trip to Persepolis [in modern-day Iran, near Shiraz]. Persepolis is a place I'd love to learn more about, and perhaps visit someday when and if travel to that area is ever safe for western visitors. On the whole, however, the book was not what I was looking for. It is not enough to keep me from reading Kapuscinski. The Shadow of the Sun and the few interesting points in this volume lead me to believe that the best of Kapuscinski is yet to come.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

From the back of the book:

This is the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams of travelling the world in search of a treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the exotic markets of Tangiers and then into the Eqyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. It's style is simple, like that of a fairy tale or a fable - all telling and no showing - but that suits the story. It reminded me of a parable. I felt as if I were sitting around a camp fire while and aged Bedouin wove a tale to entertain and educate me. The message could be considered an old one, but there is nothing new under the sun. Take the message with a pinch of salt, and don't expect to find a new philosophy for life. Just enjoy and then think about what you've read.

Fiction List (9/50)

Bleu-Blanc-Rouge
By Alain Mabanckou
Pages: 222
Genre: African Literature
Translation: Currently Not Translated

In Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, Congolese author Alain Mabanckou reveals the life of illegal African immigrants in France. Believing that previous young men from his village have already gone to France and found great success, the protagonist leaves his home in search of fortune in France. Arriving without papers, he is brought into a corrupt underworld of immigrant crimes and becomes the victim of other immigrants who exploit his naivety.

Assèze, l'Africaine
By Calixthe Beyala
Pages: 318
Genre: Novel
Translation: Currently Not Translated

Assèze leaves her mother's home to live in Douala with one of her mother's ex-boyfriends, Awono. Here she finds herself transported into a home that initially seems a magical place - the kind dreams are made of. However, she quickly discovers that her "sister" Sorraya is a spoiled brat who dreams of French authors like Simone de Beauvoir and continually treats Assèze as a second-class citizen in her new home. Eventually, both girls wind up separately in France where they meet again many years later under very different circumstances.

Beyala is again a master storyteller, weaving together the right levels of drama, intrigue, and social criticism. However, the message of the novel depends on who reads it, and Beyala's purpose for highlighting a stereotypical illegal African girl's experience in France is unclear.

Xala
By Ousmane Sembène
Pages: 189
Genre: Satire

Jacket description/back: A biting satire about the downfall of a businessman-polygamist who assumes the role of the colonialist in French-speaking Africa.

In Xala, Ousmane Sembène presents El Hadji Abdou Kader Bèye, a Senegalese businessman who finds himself unable to consummate his third marriage. Xala, the Wolof word for impotence, is a curse placed on El Hadji, and the novel traces his attempts to break the curse. Contrasting traditional African customs with French Colonial beliefs, the novel criticizes the new postcolonial government, the business world, and extravagance.

L'Amour, la fantasia
By Assia Djebar
Pages: 320
Genre: Autobiographical/Historical Novel
Translation: Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade, Vol. 1

Jacket description/back: In this stunning novel, Assia Djebar intertwines the history of her native Algeria with episodes from the life of a young girl in a story stretching from the French conquest in 1830 to the War of Liberation of the 1950s. The girl, growing up in the old Roman coastal town of Cherchel, sees her life in contrast to that of a neighboring French family, and yearns for more than law and tradition allow her to experience. Headstrong and passionate, she escapes from the cloistered life of her family to join her brother in the maquis' fight against French domination. Djebar's exceptional descriptive powers bring to life the experiences of girls and women caught up in the dual struggle for independence - both their own and Algeria's.

Assia Djebar, while an extremely interesting writer, is also a very difficult writer to read. The polyphonic nature of many of her novels can obscure the story and confuse the reader. This particular novel makes many interesting comparisons between Algerians and the French as well as recounts a heart-wrenching account of war. However, the temporal jumps made for this a difficult read.

50 BOOK CHALLENGE #11:  The Miracle At Speedy Motors
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Published: (Pantheon, 2008)
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Series (No.1 Ladies Detective Agency)
Rating: 4/5 stars

The real mystery in this series is how the author manages to continue the charming adventures of Precious Ramotswe, Grace Makutsi and Mr. JLB Matekoni well past the original seven volumes he had originally intended.  Now on Book #9, McCall still manages to breathe new life into his characters, even if they still maintain habitual bush tea drinking or conversations with their shoes!

One of the gifts or major frustrations of this series (depending on your preference) is the  slow rate of character development (at least in terms of their interpersonal relationships).  While Mma Potokwane can still be relied upon to supply fruitcake and charm Mr. JLB Matekoni into doing odd jobs, other characters begin to grow and mature, even if only by inches.  The changes are subtle, but this is what keeps readers coming back for yet another volume.

I have to admit to skipping over some of the repetitions (Smith writes so that you can pick up any volume in the series, but I do recommend reading them in order) but I found the plot coherency better in this book than in the Good Husband of Zebra Drive, for example.  There is still a sense that perhaps he sets up too many loose ends and feels a pressure near the end to tie them up, but it doesn't detract from the general enjoyment of the novel.

(cross-posted)

A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene, 1960, 199 pages.

Genre: British, Africa, fiction
Basic Overview: A world-famous man named Querry decides that there is no meaning in art or life anymore, and chooses to live out the remainder of his days in a treatment centre for lepers in the Belgian Congo [as it was called then], which is run by Catholic priests.
Personal Opinion: Not a bad book. I've been a fan of Graham Greene since I was in my late teens, and was surprised to find that there was a book of his that I hadn't read, so I picked this up with real pleasure. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped. The usual soul-searching that Greene brings into his novels that involve the Catholic church wasn't absent, merely wasn't very interesting, and the conclusion was not at all clear. Not one I'm going to read again, but for all that, I enjoyed reading it.

Stranger in Paris by W. Somerset Maugham, 1939, 246 pages. Originally published as Christmas Holiday.

Genre: British, fiction
Basic Overview: Charley Mason spends a week's Christmas vacation in Paris, planning to make whoring a definite vacation highlight, as well as looking up his old school chum, Simon. Simon has turned into an ascetic and arrogant prick who hopes to find work as the head of the secret police somewhere in the Eastern Bloc [seriously], and Charley meets a down-and-out Russian emigre hooker at the brothel, feels sorry for her, and brings her back to his hotel to give her a good feed and to listen to her life story.
Personal Opinion: This book is as bad as the basic overview sounds. I don't know what happened to Maugham; he's one of my favourite authors but this book is just terrible. I kept on reading it, hoping that Maugham would do something to redeem it eventually, but he doesn't, and it was horrible. It wasn't just a bad book, it was a bad book by someone I admire terribly, so it's really hard to criticize. Bad story, bad characters, totally improbable plot, totally improbable motives on the part of the characters....indescribable, really. If you like Maugham, don't read it.

40 / 100 (40.0%)

50BC08 #9: Things Fall Apart
Author: Chinua Achebe
Year: 1959 (Anchor Books, 50th Anniversary Edition)
Genre:  Fiction, African Literature
Pages: 209
Other:  Part of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list

This is an extraordinary book in its ability to narrate both a story of cultural dissonance and an overarching tale about the human condition.  Achebe's novel broaches the subject of morality, but demonstrates that even the concept of "evil" is subject to a cultural interpretive context.

Okonkwo, the book's tragic hero, is an emblem of tradition, but also represents how tradition can be subject to the inner turmoil of the human soul.  While the Ibo people must face the threat of European missionaries, Okonkwo must confront the threat of his own misplaced hubris.  Achebe is a sympathetic voice, but is unafraid to reveal the flaws of his characters as a commentary upon our own imperfect existence.

This is probably one of the best introductions to African fiction, precisely because the story does not limit itself to the African context. The author's  investigation of tragedy is pragmatic, yet emotionally stimulating without being romanticized. It is a book that will help the western reader more easily understand not only Nigerian tribal culture, but the power of ideas and their institutions.

The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski, 1998, 325 pages. Translation from the Polish copyright 2001 by Klara Glowczewska.

Genre: non-fiction, travel, journalism, africa, anthropology

Basic Overview: Ryszard Kapuscinski was Poland's press correspondent to Africa; he remained there for nearly fifty years but never lost the feeling of being a foreigner in a strange continent; the white man viewing but not acting, only reporting. He did, however, feel a great passion for the 53 countries which now make up Africa, and discredited the notion that Africa could be viewed as a whole: "the continent is too large to describe. It is a veritable ocean, a separate planet, a varied, immensely rich cosmos...in reality, except as a geographical entity, Africa does not exist".

Kapuscinski arrived in Africa in 1957, and stayed almost until his death in 2007. When he first set foot on the continent, he was just in time to watch the end of colonial rule, and to witness the violence that so often ensued upon liberation.

The Shadow of the Sun is a series of vignettes and articles. Many of them are deeply informative, and intended to be so. I read a fascinating chapter on the childhood, despotic rule, and the aftermath of Uganda's Idi Amin, and a no less fascinating, but more grisly chapter on the backdrop to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In other stories, the subject matter focuses on Kapuscinski himself, to begin with, but always with a view to explaining something interesting, unusual, or incomprehensible that he has found out about Africa or its people. In such a way, I read about Kapuscinski's bouts of malaria, his near-death from thirst in the Mauritanian corner of the Sahara desert, the near-constant burglary that plagued him and his apartment when he lived in Nigeria, and the difficulties of covering for the press a coup d'etat in Zanzibar.

Personal Opinion: If it had not been for the fact that new books had arrived in the mail this past Friday, I would have found parting with Kapuscinski's book much, much harder. As it was, I read it slowly, savouring each drop, wishing that I, too, could travel with Bedouins, spend the nights in tribal villages in Ethiopia, and so on, and so forth. For me, things are different. I am not a press correspondent, I am not male, and I do not have 50 years left in which to have a love affair with a continent. *deep sigh*

The book is beautiful. From opening scenes in Ghana, where a newly-arrived Kapuscinski rides a bus in rural Ghana, in wonderment about the people, their knowledge of unseen paths through the forests, and the colourful nature of everything around him, to the end, in Ethiopia, where he reflects on what he has learned after his decades in the continent, I was captured by both the subject matter and the writing. Good-natured, curious, never afraid to express his emotions on the page, Kapuscinski uncovers so much of what is beautiful about Africa, and so much about what is wrong in Africa. For me, the starkest thing is the hunger, and the knowledge that most black Africans subsist on one meal of porridge made of manioc* or mealies** a day, and are almost always hungry, will gnaw at me until I figure out how I can help.

I will put this book on my list of all-time favourites, and recommend it to anyone with an interest in Africa.

*manioc - a tuberous root, also called cassava, also refers to its flour, usually made by pounding it, made into porridge by mixing with water.
**mealies - corn, when pounded into flour it is called 'mealie meal', usually made into porridge by mixing with water.

( Books read so far )

12. Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith. Second book in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. These are really great, feel-good stories and they make Botswana sound like an amazing country. Genre: Fiction, Detective

13. Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith. Third in the same series. Genre: Fiction, Detective

14. Chocolat - Joanne Harris. I've never much liked the sound of Joanne Harris books before, but after seeing the film I decided to give Chocolat a go. I'm glad I did, althogh it took me a little while to get into I really enjoyed it and it was quite different. The story is of Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk, who open a chocolate shop in a small French village during lent and the reactions of the locals. The story has supernatural hints to it, which I hadn't expected and this made it more interesting. I was reading this on the boat on the way to work in the mornings, and it REALLY made me want to go and drink chocolate in a French cafe! Genre: Fiction

15. Slam - Nick Hornby. I wasnt too sure whether I was going to enjoy Slam once I realised it was about teenage pregnancy, but the fact that its written from the point of view of the boy rather than focusing on the girl makes it different. Genre: Young Adult

16. 44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith. Its worth knowing that this was actually written as a serial, with a chapter published every day in a newspaper (The Scotsman?) so the structure feels a bit odd at times. I liked it though and the fact that the chapters weren't so clearly defined meant I found it difficult to stop reading, which can only be a good thing. Set in middle-upper class Edinburgh its got some great characters - I wish Domenica was my neighbour. Genre: Scottish Fiction

16/50

( Books read so far )

7. All Things Bright and Beautiful - James Herriot. The second collection of stories detailing the life of James Herriot a young vet working in Yorkshire in the 1930s/40s. Originally published in two seperate books (Let Sleeping Vets Lie and Vet in Harness) this volume focuses on the first few years of his marriage as well as the usual large animal practice. Genre: Autobiography/Animals/Humour

8. All Things Wise and Wonderful - James Herriot. The third omnibus is a little different from the first two. Herriot has been called up to serve in the RAF during WW2 and often the chapters begin with stories of his time there which lead into reminiscence about his veterinary practice and his family back in Yorkshire. Genre: Autobiography/Animals/Humour

9. The X-Files: Fight the Future - Elizabeth Hand. Not a lot I can say about this, its just a written adaptation of the film, pretty basic but has some nice pictures included. Genre: Film/TV/Sci-Fi

10. Girl, Interrupted - Susannah Kaysen. I saw the film years ago and although I knew it was based on real events I didn't realise it was originally a book until I found it in a second hand shop. I would definitely recommend Girl, Interrupted if you have any interest in mental illness. Documenting Susannahs diagnosis with Borderline Personality Disorder and admission to a psychiatric unit for teenage girls it is short and easy to read, with excerpts from her case notes throughout keeping you aware that the events really happened. These look like photocopies of old handwritten documents so they aren't that clear but you can make them out. Genre: Autobiography

11. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith. The first in the series and the first book I have read by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Ramotswe is Botswanas only female private detective and uses only her intelligence and her white van to solve the cases her clients bring to her. I read this on my way to and from work over a couple of days and I enjoyed it. Its completely different from any crime/detective style novels I have read before (nothing like Patricia Cornwell or Karin Slaughter!) with its warmth and easy going pace. Genre: Detective Novel

11/50

Notes from my Travels/Angelina Jolie
-256 pages.
-Genre: International politics.
-Library paperback.
-First line: "I am on a plane to Africa."
-Summary: This book is composed of journal entries written by Angelina on her first four missions with the UNHCR. The first mission was to Africa, where she traveled from Sierra Leone to Cote d’Ivoire to Tanzania. Following that she spent time in Cambodia, Pakistan and Ecuador. Her journal entries chronicle her observations and what she learned on each of her missions. She shares with us a world filled with amazing people—the refugees, who despite what they face remain strong and courageous, and the people who have given up the comforts of their own home to help those in need.
-Review: This book made me uncomfortable; a good uncomfortable because it was an enlightened uncomfortable. The things that Angelina talks about in this book are things that everyone needs to hear. We need to be aware of what is going on in these countries. The section on Africa touched me in a special way; I spent three months in West Africa after graduating high school. I was in a different country than her, a country that’s a bit more stabile, so I didn’t see people who were fleeing war, but the poverty, deformities, and physical conditions that people were living in were very similar. How she described the people as well, their attitudes were the same. It took me back to all of that. It’s hard to read, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s heartbreaking. But it’s inspiring. It inspires to make a differences; it inspires to see the world in a different way. One particular story from Cambodia hurt; it really hurt to read. How people were treated, how babies were treated… I shudder just thinking about it. In Pakistan the way some of those children are treated angered me. I’ve heard about things like this; I’ve talked about it with people, but I don’t think I really realized just how true it is. I didn’t want to realize it. But when I read that this was happening it made me angry and it made me want to do something. [5/5]
-6/50 [012%], 2132/15000 [014%], 52/365 [014%]

Regardless of your political leanings, this book is a great insight into a man who has led a truly extraordinary life. The book is simply Obama's story, and has very little politics within it. I found it refreshing to hear so much voice from a politician, as usually their books tend to fall a little flat.

Obama's book could have used a little better editing, but ultimately it doesn't seem to matter very much as you'll get caught up in the story. I loved this book because of the sheer honest, straightforwardness of it, and it's one of my favorite reads this year, even though I don't think it's quite deserving of 5 star rating.

4/5

2,981/15,000 = 19.87% of the pages
10/50 = 20% of the books
12.87% of the way through the year

2nd Chance - James Patterson. 401 pages.

Book 2 in the Women's Murder Club series.
I'm really enjoying Patterson's writing style, lots of small and fast-moving chapters. Maybe there's a formula that i haven't figured out yet, but he's managed to surprise me with a few plot twists - the sign of an author i definitely want to keep reading.


The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby. 274 pages (including excerpts).

Collection of his "Stuff I've Been Reading" essays/articles, for Believer (American magazine).
I have a weakness for "books about books", and generally nosy about what people are reading (which was a big reason for joining this comm actually). Nick goes through what books he's bought each month and what books he's read each month (the fact that there is someone else in the world who impulse-buys books without really wanting to read them has made me feel much better about it), and he makes books fun. [I happen to have a similar sense of humour to Hornby, so this could be slightly biased].

Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith. 217 pages.

Follows on from The No1 Ladies Detective Agency, it's a lovely light read and a different look at Africa. Precious Ramotswe handles a couple of cases but she also goes about her life, she becomes engaged, meets people and makes observations about the world. You can tell that the author really knows and loves the land he's talking about, and the people in his books reflect that love.

6. Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide, Peter Allison

The title describes this book pretty well - the book is composed of a series of short stories about the author's time as a safari guide in Africa, mostly Botswana. It's occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes sad, and always vivid and engaging. It's easy to pick up and put down, due to the format. The author's caring for the animals he has spent much time observing definitely comes through.

1. The Sweetest Gift by Jillian Hart.

Short description: This is a romance book about a woman who gets a new neighbor and slowly falls in love with them. They've both had unfortunate things happen in their past that makes it hard for them to open up to each other.

My thoughts: I never would have read this book on my own. However, it was the only thing available at my work (we share reading material with each other by leaving it in one of a few designated spots). I quickly realized this was uber-Christiany romance. Now, I don't normally do romance books ANYWAY, so that made it harder for me to get into. But, I did read the whole thing. If you leave out the "God stuff" it isn't really a bad book, for what it is. Good for between calls at work, but that's about it. I wouldn't read it again.

2. Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton

Short description: Chanda lives in Africa, near the time AIDS starts really becoming an epidemic. First, it affects some neighbors. Slowly, Chanda realizes that her mother is infected. (This is, she realizes, why her youngest sister died.) She's living in a time and place where even mentioning the word "AIDS" can cause you to be shunned for life. This also tells the story of a family that seems to be "cursed". First, her father and brothers die in a mining accident, then her first stepfather sexually abuses her, the second dies of a stroke, and the third is an alcoholic.

My thoughts: I think this book would be good for a junior high class studying Africa or something similar. I actually hadn't realized that it was young adult fiction until I'd already checked it out of the library. I had a day on my hands where I couldn't do much (sick) and no fiction to read. It wasn't bad. I'd probably recommend it to a young adult who was interested in this sort of thing or one who is still worried about the "stigma" of AIDS.

Book #34: African Diary by Bill Bryson.
A bit of a dissapointment, but understandably short as written for charity. I wish he would have been a bit more elaborate and spend more time in Africa rather than write a book based on one visit.

Book #35: Elle by Douglas Glover.
I picked this book up in a sale and it was a surprise for sure. French woman's survival story on cold, uninhabited Canadian Island. What is real and what is hallusinations. Interesting book.

30. Brick Lane, Monica Ali
31. A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah

Ali's book was for my Contemporary British Fiction course - I did not enjoy it as much as the other books for this course. It was very well written, but the story still failed to engage me.
A Long Way Gone was for my Western history course, but I have been meaning to read it for a while. What a depressing story! I could barely believe what Beah had to endure through out his childhood in the Sierra Leone. This was a very moving memoir, and opened my eyes to a conflict I knew next to nothing about.

Currently Reading: Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Next Up: Pullman's The Golden Compass, Atwood's Oryx and Crake, Walls's Glass Castle

27. Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter
28. King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hochschild
29. Reading in the Dark, Seamus Deane

I loved all three of these novels, particularly Deane's. 
Nights has made me want to read more Carter - every page is PACKED with beautiful, rich words. I felt dizzy when I was forced to put the book down, but not in a bad way. Fevvers is a great female character.
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed King Leopold. It is a bit dense with dates and statistics, but this does not interfere much with the rich storytelling of Hochschild. If anyone can recommend non-fiction that is written like Hochschild, I will be happy to pick it up.
Reading was an interesting read, especially after King Leopold. They were for two separate classes, but they meshed well - the effect of imperialism was present in both. Deane is a poet even in his prose - the novel flowed wonderfully.

( List so far. )

Reading right now: Ali's Brick Lane
Next up: Beah's A Long Way Gone, Pullman's Golden Compass, Rushdie's Midnight's Children

65. Consequences - Penelope Lively
               A story about three generations of women in a family, from pre-W W II to the present.  About their love lives, mostly, and also about their evolutions as people, I suppose.  Hard to sum up better than that.  I read this because of a review in the NY Times, and it turned out to be enjoyable, but not amazing.
66. Murder in the Dark - Margaret Atwood
               A collection of short fictions and prose poems.  Amusingly sarcastic, highly perceptive, and occasionally dark.  My very favorite part was a section on women's novels (romance novels), analyzing and eviscerating their style and cliched plot from the point of view of a woman who doesn't fit into the cultural idea of a woman.  Recommended to anyone who's enjoyed some of Atwood's fiction.
67. Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village - Sarah Erdman
               A memoir of a young woman's time in the Peace Corps, as a health worker just as AIDS in Africa was reaching prominence.  She talks mostly of her difficulties in working within the cultural requirements, such as getting permission from the chief for every step of any project, her success in teaching local mothers about childcare, and in setting up a maternity clinic.  An interesting read, not quite as good as The Ponds of Kalambayi but nowhere near as bad as Mango Elephants in the Sun.
68. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
               A novel told from the point of view of a murdered girl, as