Captain Alatriste

Captain Alatriste

Arturo Perez-Reverte

Set in Seventeenth-Century Spain, this is the first in a short series about the adventures of Captain Alatriste, a sword-for-hire.

When the captain is hired to waylay a pair of foreign travelers by a group of mysterious masked men who are headed by a prelate whose power is such that he needs no disguise, he makes a split-second decision which may cost him his life, and which will affect not only Spain, but much of Europe.

This was a rollicking, swashbuckling, fun read. At the same time, the elegant prose was a pleasure.

I enjoyed the heck out of this book!

Chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia

chameleon Days: An American Boyhood in Ethiopia

Tim Bascom

Tim Bascomb is the son of American missionaries, and, as a result, spent much of his childhood in Ethiopia in the 1960's.

Like the children of many former missionaries, he had to adapt and make adjustments to Western culture on his return to the United States. Unlike many that I've read about, he seems to have done a good job of adapting.

I also really like that he seems to be particularly clear-sighted about religion and about his past experiences. His views, on the whole seem very balanced, IMO.

This was a very good memoir.

The Blue NIle

The Blue Nile

Alan Moorehead

This book is a history of the Western exploration of Northeast Africa and Egypt. I have not read the companion volume, The White Nile.

Having been written in 1962, some dated attitudes were apparent, but overall, it was very interesting and informative. I'm glad I read it. I learned of edplorers I'd not heard of before, and even though I'd known that Napoleon had occupied Egypt for a while, I'd never known the details, and found them fascinating.

Astrid and Veronika

Astrid and Veronika

Linda Olsson

This is a novel about a friendship between two women, one a recently bereaved writer who has come back to Sweden from New Zealand after the loss of her fiance, and the other a reclusive older woman who has been living with her own painful secrets and loss.

I enjoyed this, but it seemed, to me, pretty typical women's fiction fare. There's absolutely nothing wrong with women's fiction. I read it and enjoy it, but it seems to me to be a glutted market, and to really appeal to me, a women's fiction book needs to stand out from the rest. This one just didn't, IMO.

To sum up, it was a decent book, but nothing to get excited about.

Child of the Jungle

Child of the Jungle

Sabine Kuegler

This is the autobiography of a European woman who spent her childhood in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Her parents were linguists/missionaries and her playmates were the children of one of the most remote tribes in the world.

Her eventual re-adjustment to Western society proved quite difficult for her.

I found this book so readable and so incredibly fascinating that I finished it in less than 24 hours.

the author's childhood was both idyllic and full of painful lessons at the same time. One thing for sure; it was an endless adventure.

I know that I say I love a lot of books, and I do. Add one more to the list of books I love!

St. Patrick's Day Murder

St. Patrick's Day Murder

Leslie Meier

This is one of the Lucy Stone mystery series, which I enjoy. This cozy series features a mom of four/small town newspaper reporter as the amateur sleuth and is set in the quaint New England town of Tinker's Cove, Maine.

In this book the owner of the town's most disreputable bar is found in the harbor - minus his head.

When his brother, an actor of some reknown in Ireland, arrives with his diva wife and imaginative child to take part in the parish church's production of the play Finian's Rainbow, it seems just a bit too pat for coincidence. But there are others who held a grudge against Dan.

These are fun, light reads. I always enjoy them,

One thing bugs me a little, though. In most of the books Lucy ends being rescued by either her husband or some other man. I'd prefer it if she were strong enough, confident enough, and smart enough to get herself out of harmful situations.

Still, , this is a fun series. I especially like that they are almost always set around a holiday or other special occasion.

A Morbid Taste for Bones

A Morbid Taste for Bones

Ellis Peters

This is the first in the Brother Cadfael mysteries.

When a Welsh saint, St. Winifred, appears to have cured a Shrewesbury Abbey Brother of fits, the prior takes it as a sign that St. Winifred's bones should be removed from the Welsh village where they've lain peacefully, yet seemingly neglected, and brought to Shrewsbury Abbey to be honored and venerated, to the glory of the abbey, and the personal glory of the prior.

However, the Welsh villagers prove reluctant to disturb their saint's rest.

When a rich landholder is found dead, and an honest man stands accused, while a brother of the abbey is locked up for allowing the man to escape, Brother Cadfael determines that he must uncover the truth.

The Brother Cadfael mysteries are as addictive as crack, (or chocolate). I love these books!

One Corpse Too Many

One Corpse Too Many

Ellis Peters

This is the second in the Brother Cadfael Chronicles and the first in the series that I've read.

The year is 1138, and war rages between the forces of King Stephen and those of Empress Maud. At Shrewesbury, where Brother Cadfael is living out his vocation is a Benedictine monk and tending to the gardens and herbarium of Shrewesbury Abbey, King Stephen has given the order to hang a number of men who have been condemned to death as traitors.

Brother Cadfael has taken on the task of perparing the bodies for Christian burials. When he discovers that there is one more body than there was supposed to be, he also takes on the task of finding finding the murderer.

I became so smitten with this book, that I rushed to the library to check out the first in the series.

This was an intelligent mystery that was well-articulated, and a real pleasure to read.

I intend to eventually read the entire series, in order. I've decided not to devour them all at once, though, but to savor them a bit at a time, and make them last - like the most delicious dessert that you would like to make last forever!

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings

Amy Kelly

This was a very informative biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who ruled in France and England during the 12th Century, thanks to two marriages. She also bore two kings of England, Richard-the-Lionhearted, and King John.

I don't believe I've ever read the facts behind these two legendary kings, nor had I ever read anything of Eleanor.

I appreciated the research that so obviously went into this book, and I also appreciated the readable style.

This book has caused me to become more interested in the Middle Ages.