3 posts tagged “kerry greenwood”

Murder on the Ballarat Train - Kerry Greenwood - Phryne Fisher gets caught up in another murder in the third book in this series.  More fantastic characters and Roaring Twenties fun!

Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky - This is a very moving fictional account of the German invasion of France during World War II.  It tells the story of several different people along all class lines coping with the invasion.  The story is very humanistic and does not portray all German soldiers as evil, which makes the story all the more compelling.  I highly recommend this one.

These make 7 books read so far in 2008.

Continuing my 50 in 365 challenge:

#13 - Watermelon - Marian Keyes

As can be expected, I enjoyed this novel.  Keyes is definitely a favorite author of mine, and this book did not disappoint.  This is the first of the books about the Walsh sisters.  Claire's husband leaves her right after she gives birth to their child.  She moves home with her family and learns to cope.  I think Rachel's Holiday and Anybody Out There were much better and more moving novels than this one, but they were two of my favorite novels ever so not living up to them doesn't mean this isn't a good book.  I would recommend it to anyone who wants a light read that isn't as mindless as a lot of the chick lit flooding the market right now. 

#14 - Flying Too High - Kerry Greenwood

Phryne Fisher has established herself as a sleuth and is on the scent again with a hotheaded patriarch being murdered and his son accused of the crime.  The second installment of the Phryne Fisher mystery series is just as fun as the first, and getting to know the cast of secondary characters is almost as fun as reading about the fabulous flapper life of Phryne.  I love the two communist cab drivers that complain about all the capitalists while Phryne pays them to do her bidding.

#15 - The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory

This is the story of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn from the point of view of her sister, Mary.  I couldn't put this book down, and I found myself thinking about it at work wishing I could sneak away and read just one more chapter.  Gregory did painstaking research to get the historical framework of the novel right, and then expertly added the feelings and motivations for the characters' actions.  I escaped into another time, when women were chattel to be set out for their family's bidding.  It was really interesting to see the monster that Anne Boleyn created become the instrument of her downfall.  I want to read The Constant Princess soon because I'd like to read more about Katherine of Aragon than the few years that she happened to be in Anne Boleyn's way.  She has always interested me.  I also think I'll pick up some nonfiction about the wives of Henry VIII because it is hard to separate fact from fiction in the stories we hear about the Tudor dynasty.