The Austere Academy is the fifth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author, Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler). As we once again join the unlucky Baudelaire orphans, Mr Poe deposits the siblings at a boarding school, the Prufrock Preparatory School, with an advanced computer that will protect them from Count Olaf. Or will it? Having already suffered the loss of their parents, the threat of marriage, slave labour, hypnosis, and the murder of their Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine at the hands of the evil Count Olaf and his nefarious assistants, the siblings are ever-vigilant of his reappearance. Luckily these well-mannered and uncomplaining children are also very resourceful: Violet invents, Klaus reads and Sunny bites. Snicket’s tone throughout is apologetic, sincere and matter-of-fact as he relates the unfortunate events in the children’s lives; his imaginative and even surreptitiously educational style will hold much appeal for younger readers. Snicket’s word and phrase definitions are often hilarious. This installment, the orphans manage to make friends with two triplets who are in a similar situation. But it isn’t enough to save them from horrible living conditions, enduring boring lessons and nasty teasing classmates, or in Sunny’s case, secretarial duties, as well as cruel punishments like torture by violin recital, toe-nipping crabs and nightly running exercises. Violet turns her inventing skills to staple manufacture, Klaus manages to read important notes without his glasses and Sunny’s vocabulary seems to be improving. The alliterative titles are a delight and Brett Helquist provides his usual wonderfully evocative illustrations. What will happen to the orphans now that they have been expelled? No doubt the sixth installment, The Ersatz Elevator, will reveal all.

11/22/63 is the 34th stand-alone novel by popular American author, Stephen King. This time, the master craftsman of storytelling turns his prodigious talents to time travel. In 2011, schoolteacher and budding novelist, Jake Epping is shown a portal into the past, into 1958, and convinced that he can change certain events: specifically, he is to prevent Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating President John Kennedy on 11/22/63. But as Jake makes his way from 1958 towards his goal, he finds that the past resists change, that the past is obdurate, and that every change has consequences. Fans of King’s work will be pleased to pass through Derry, Maine just after the events of “It”, and encounter some of that novel’s protagonists. King’s extensive research into the time period and the events surrounding the Kennedy assassination is apparent in every paragraph: the feel of the late fifties and early sixties is very convincing. Once the reader suspends disbelief about time travel, the rest of the novel is utterly believable and, despite the volume, eminently readable. King paints for the reader a very plausible picture of a nascent assassin. This novel has romance, nostalgia, humour, sadness and an exciting climax. King’s main character is appealing and easy to identify with; the supporting characters, no less engaging. The plot is original and brilliantly executed. This is King at the top of his game: an excellent read.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the fifth novel by award-winning British author, David Mitchell, who classifies it as historical fiction. Jacob de Zoet is a young Dutch clerk, a Zeelander working for the Dutch East India Company, on a five-year clerical post to Java, where he hopes to make his fortune in order to marry his Dutch sweetheart. He arrives in Nagasaki with the new Chief Resident-elect of Dejima, an island enclave to which the Dutch traders are confined. Soon after his arrival, he encounters a young Japanese midwife with whom he promptly falls in love. Mitchell slowly and carefully crafts his plot to reach a dramatic climax. Mitchell’s potted histories of his characters contribute to their depth and appeal, as well as developing the plot. His dialogue sounds genuine, especially the rendering of translated language. Mitchell gives the reader a fascinating peek into the world that was European trade with Japan in the late 18th century. This was a world filled with corruption, bribery, execution and religious persecution. De Zoet learns the diplomacy and the political tactics necessary in dealing with the Japanese, and that men of honour and integrity are few and far between. This novel makes the historical facts, which might have been dry and unpalatable, interesting and easy to assimilate. De Zoet is loosely based on Hendrick Doeff, one of Dejima’s real Chief Residents. Mitchell does bend a few historical facts: the incident on which the climax is based actually happened somewhat later; the reference by characters in 1799 to the mass eradication of Tasmanian aborigines is premature; nonetheless, this does not detract from the novel in any way. Some of the prose is truly beautiful: Mitchell manages to be quite lyrical about clouds and weather; there are also several charming illustrations. This is a brilliant novel and easily the best I have read in a long time.

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection is the thirteenth in the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. In this installment, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi find themselves investigating not for clients, but rather, for themselves and their friends. Precious and Grace are delighted to find that Clovis Anderson, author of their much-consulted bible, The Principles of Private Detection, is visiting Botswana and decides to stop in for a chat. Precious uses the opportunity to get his advice on a troubling situation affecting her dear friend, Matron of the Orphan Farm, Mma Potokwani. It seems the Orphanage Board has decided to institute changes which Mma Potokwani feels will be detrimental to the orphans, and her dissension is to cost her her job. In an uncharacteristic move, the usually forthright matron retreats to her lands: is this the end for Mma Potokwani? Fanwell, the irreproachable apprentice at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, reluctantly agrees to help an old acquaintance and finds this decision has unforeseen serious consequences. While Mr J.L.B. Matekoni and Mma Ramotswe give him their full support, a surprisingly resourceful Charlie demonstrates unexpected loyalty and comes to the rescue. And newlyweds, Grace and Phuti, find that building a house can be complicated, especially when the builder is not completely honest. As always, the lives of our favourite Gabarone residents keep the reader engrossed; their dialogue, especially that of Mma Makutsi (and her shoes!) provide many light moments; the courtroom scene is pure farce; we discover the origin of Grace’s obsession with shoes; we learn more about Fanwell’s background; Grace’s musings on physical and mental comfort are worth consideration, as is the concept of the guilt-free sofa; Mma Ramotswe’s inner monologue is full of gentle philosophy and it was a lovely surprise for the reader to meet the much-quoted (and apparently very human) Clovis Anderson. Another delightful novel.

The Children’s Book is the fifth stand-alone novel by British author, Antonia S. Byatt. This novel spans about a quarter of a century, starting in 1895, and tells the story of children’s author, Olive Wellwood, her extended family, friends and acquaintances. Against a backdrop of Victorian, then Edwardian then World War One England, Byatt creates a dynasty that is exposed to Imperialists, Socialists, Fabians, Malthusians, Theosophists, and revolutionaries. Jung, Freud, Oscar Wilde, H.G.Wells, Lalique, women’s suffrage, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Grande Exposition in Paris all play their part. This family is involved, not just in children’s literature, but also pottery, jewellery making, puppeteering, fairy mythology, plays and Art and Craft Summer Camps. Byatt intersperses the narrative with Olive’s fiction and, later, poetry by one of the children. As the children of the various families grow and develop, they come to realise that the adults they trust and rely on are not what they seem, and secrets are revealed that change lives. Adultery is rife in this novel, as are births where parentage is suspect; suicides and war deaths take their toll too. Byatt’s descriptions are highly evocative: pottery, puppets and nature are almost tangible. The Lalique brooch on the cover of this edition presages the sumptuous work within. A magical read.

The Alchemist is the first novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and this edition is translated by Alan. R. Clarke. It is the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearning to travel motivates him to take a chance and search for his destiny. Along the way he encounters a Gypsy, a King, a thief, a merchant, an Englishman, a camel driver, the love of his life, a Tribal Chief and of course, the Alchemist. He leaves Spain, travels to Africa, to the Pyramids, earns money and loses it, and learns about much along the way, including the Soul of the World, The Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. There is lots of profound wisdom contained in this little story: “It’s not what enters men’s mouths that’s evil,” said the Alchemist. “It’s what comes out of their mouths that is.” “You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say.” “….the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.” “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” “…when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” A charming read.

Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great uncle Shanti Behari Seth (Shanti Uncle), born in Biswan, and his German Jewish great aunt, Hennerle Caro (Aunty Henny), born in Berlin, describing them as two exiles who found their home in each other. Using interviews with his uncle as well as letters, photographs and official documents, Seth builds up a comprehensive image of the lives of two people he held dear. But as with his travelogue, From Heaven Lake, this also contains commentary on world affairs and much of the author’s own life: Seth states “I felt that a picture of these individual lives would be complemented by glimpses of their century, even if these glimpses were mediated by the opinion, perhaps opinionatedness, of the author. Indeed, the lens has also turned around upon its wielder, for this book is memoir as well as biography.” As such, while a fascinating examination of two very interesting lives, it also gives much insight into the inspiration for and circumstances surrounding the writing of his various works. It is certainly intriguing to see how his interests and life events are linked to his novels. The depiction of World War Two, the Holocaust and other events of the Twentieth Century from two unique perspectives is also quite interesting. And of course, Seth once again exercises his poetic brain cells for the charming dedication. This book has aptly been described as an engaging and moving narrative. Well worth reading.

Sweet Tooth is the 14th book by British author, Ian McEwan. Serena Frome’s story is narrated in detail essentially from the time she first gets involved with the man who will usher her into a position in MI5, in the early 70’s Britain. Serena is a compulsive reader of fiction and her first “secret mission” is to cultivate promising young author, Tom Haley. Their mutual attraction ensures they step beyond the boundaries set by her superiors, and before long, things start to unravel. While a working knowledge of British politics of the seventies plays would enhance the enjoyment of this novel, it is not requisite. McEwan presents the reader with a delicious irony when Serena tells us she distrusts any kind of fictional trick, something of which McEwan is a master. Once again, he fools the reader but, whereas I felt cheated by it in Atonement, this time I revelled in it. The end has the reader wondering: just whose words are we actually reading? The answer is very simple: those of a brilliant novelist.

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is the first novel of British-born American author, Helen Simonson. Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) lives in the charming English village of Edgecombe St Mary. Some six years after the death of his wife Nancy, it takes the events surrounding the sudden death of his younger brother, Bertie, to bring Mrs Jasmina Ali, the owner of the village shop, to his notice. As unlikely as it may seem, he finds he has a lot in common with this gentle woman of Pakistani descent. Simonson creates the feel of the rural English village with consummate ease, from the Lord of the Manor desperately trying to keep up his estate to the Golf Club with its exclusive membership to the well-meaning Ladies led by the vicar’s wife. Simonson’s characters are easily recognisable: the self-indulgent adult offspring with their focus on money; the hopeful spinster trying to be noticed by the last eligible male; the young Asian woman trying to escape the oppressive family; the professional Asian couple ingratiating themselves with the British Upper Class; and, of course, the stiff British Major who turns out to be terribly human, and therefore eminently likeable. Yet the characters have depth and the fact that all of the characters have some redeeming feature makes them all the more realistic: none is totally good or totally bad. Simonson touches on inheritance, the divide between the generations, loneliness, mortality, the fate of Manor houses, the mingling of cultures, housing estate development and stewardship of the land. She manages to include: an annual Golf Club dance; a duck shoot; Kipling; at attack with a knitting needle; a set of matched hunting rifles; a suicide attempt and a dramatic cliff-top climax. Favourite quotes: “This was the dull ache of grief in the real world; more dyspepsia than passion.” “’The world is full of small ignorances,’ said a quiet voice. Mrs Ali appeared at his elbow and gave the young woman a stern look. ‘We must do our best to ignore them and thereby keep then small, don’t you think?’” and “ ‘I think everyone has the right to be shown respect,’ she said. ‘Ah, well, there you go.’ He shook his head. ‘Young people are always demanding respect instead of trying to earn it. In my day, respect was something to strive for. Something to be given, not taken.’ “ This is a brilliant first novel and I look forward to more from Helen Simonson.

The Inn at Rose Harbor is the first book (apart from the prequel eShort, When First They Met) in the Rose Harbor series by popular American author, Debbie Macomber. This is a new series but is set in Cedar Cove, Washington, so fans of the long-running Cedar Cove series will be pleased at occasional glimpses and cameo appearances of characters from that series. Jo Marie Rose is a young widow who has bought a B&B in Cedar Cove, a move she is hoping will help her heal from the loss of her husband, Paul. Her first guests are people who also need healing: Abby Kincaid is a guilt-ridden young woman who fled Cedar Cove fifteen years ago after being the driver in a car accident that killed her best friend; Josh Weaver has returned to Cedar Cove to tend his ailing step-father, the same man who kicked him out of his home after his mother died. Macomber is the queen of feelgood and manages to organise forgiveness, reconciliation and true love for both Abby and Josh over the course of three days. It seems that Jo Marie’s healing is advancing too. Olivia Griffin, Grace Harding, Corrie McAfee and Peggy Beldon make appearances, as do a few spirits, a dubious character looking for a handout, a cranky handyman and a dog named Rover. Macomber sets up the next book in the series, Rose Harbor in Bloom, by having Jo Marie take bookings for the next two guests, and also includes a couple of knitting patterns. Sweet and enjoyable.

Red Mist is the 19th book in the Kay Scarpetta series by American author, Patricia D. Cornwell. Forensic pathologist, Kay Scarpetta visits an inmate at the Georgia Prison For Women, a woman who sexually assaulted Scarpetta’s now-deceased deputy chief, Jack Fielding, in his youth, and bore his daughter, who herself became a brilliant and vicious murderess. As a result of the visit, Kay feels manipulated into meeting with former NY assistant DA, Jaime Berger, and her paranoia is justified as she finds herself re-examining a nine-year-old multiple slaying in Savannah. While the plot in this Scarpetta installment is very good, the execution suffers from excessive trivial detail. It is written as a first person narrative with an abundance of repetition as well as bits of menu, food commentary, and preachy nutritional advice interspersed. The narrator comes across as whiny, arrogant and quite paranoid. The remaining significant characters are flat (the reader has met them in previous books and Cornwell apparently deems no depth is required of these characters now). Astute readers will pick the most important clue in the first tenth of the book, but the exact who, how and why of it make, nonetheless, a good read. If the heroine was less abrasive, the other characters a little less stale and the story condensed from the 500 pages it takes to cover 48 hours, this would be an excellent read.

On Canaan’s Side is the 7th novel by Irish author Sebastian Barry and is, deservedly, winner of the 2012 Walter Scott Prize. It was also long-listed for the 2011 Man Booker Prize. Lilly Bere (whom fans of Barry’s work will recognise as the youngest daughter of Thomas Dunne from The Steward Of Christendom, sister of Willie, Maud and Annie Dunne) writes, over the seventeen days since she has buried her beloved and troubled grandson, Bill, her thoughts about her life of almost ninety years. Through Lilly’s reminiscences, we learn of her childhood in Ireland, her escape to America with her fiancé Tadg, her marriage to, and abandonment by the mysterious Joe, and the raising her son Ed and her grandson Bill. Lilly encounters hardship, fear, great loss and heartbreak, but also incredible generosity, kindness and small victories. Despite intimacies and closeness, Lilly is not allowed to really know the significant men in her life (Thomas, Tadg, Joe, Ed, Bill and Mr Nolan), often until it was far too late, if at all, yet she shows grace, courage, an enormous capacity for forgiveness and rejects opportunities for revenge. With his prose, some of it achingly beautiful, Barry evokes atmosphere, mood and emotion, and comments on the unspoken tragedies of wars and rebellions. Some favourite quotes: “I wonder if I were to have an X-ray at the little hospital, would the machine see my grief? Is it like a rust, a rheum about the heart?” “…. beamed out a smile as good as the Wicklow lighthouse when at last it turns its great arc towards you.” “We may be immune to typhoid, tetanus, chicken pox, diphtheria, but never memory. There is no inoculation against that.” “The gift of life, oftentimes so difficult to accept, the horse whose teeth we are so often inclined to inspect.” “To remember sometimes is a great sorrow, but when the remembering has been done, there comes afterward a very curious peacefulness. Because you have planted your flag on the summit of sorrow. You have climbed it.” A wonderful story, beautifully written.

Gone Girl is the third novel by American author, Gillian Flynn. “She was the girl that every girl wanted to be: beautiful, brilliant, inspiring and very wealthy. He was the guy that all men admired: handsome, funny, bright and charming. But on July fifth, their seemingly perfect world came crashing in when Amy Elliott Dunne disappeared on their fifth wedding anniversary.” Flynn alternates narrations from husband Nick Dunne starting the day of the disappearance with diary entries by Amy Elliott Dunne starting when she first met Nick, and later, narrations by Amy, to gradually lead the reader through a tense, clever plot with some breathtaking twists and turns. Along the way, she touches on the power of TV and social media, the influence of good (and bad) parenting and whether anyone can really know their spouse. With plenty of black humour, Gone Girl is witty, scary, funny and brilliant.

Never Knowing is the second novel by Canadian author, Chevy Stevens. Like her last book, this is a gripping psychological thriller that will have the reader on the edge of the seat until the last chapter. Sara Gallagher, 34 and mother to six-year-old Ally, is engaged to be married to the laid-back Evan. After a childhood with an adoptive family where she never felt wholly wanted, Sara decides to search for her birth mother. With the help of a Private Investigator, she discovers her mother was the only known survivor of a serial killer who was never captured. Worse still, after this information goes public, her birth father starts ringing her. Stevens sets up her narrative as sessions that Sara has with her psychiatrist, thus also delving deeply into Sara’s feelings and emotions. In this page-turner, Stevens touches on serial killing, the debate of nature versus nurture (bad blood), the use of the internet to disseminate information, obsessive compulsive disorder, and the rights of adopted children and birth parents. Stevens gives the reader characters that are all the more realistic for being imperfect and occasionally irritating, a great setting and believable dialogue. The plot is full of suspense with several twists, some humour to relieve the tension and a brilliant climax. Another page-turner.

Murder in Montparnasse is the twelfth book in the popular Phryne Fisher series by Australian author, Kerry Greenwood. A request from the French chef/owner of Café Anatole to locate a missing prospective young bride has Phryne thinking back to her time in Paris in 1918. Shortly after, Bert and Cec ask for Phryne’s help with the suspicious death of two of their mates from the war: they believe others in their group of seven diggers are in danger. Discussion leads Phryne to conclude that they witnessed the murder under a Metro train at Montparnasse of a Parisian artist, Pierre Sarcelle. Coincidentally, Phryne was also in Paris at the time, and had posed for Sarcelle. Memories both good and bad flood in. On top of this, Phryne’s plan to continue seeing the soon-to-be-married Lin Chung has Mr Butler threatening the unthinkable. This instalment has an arsonist, standover merchants, a cranky father, a ransom note, a car theft gang, lots of French food, some cross-dressing, spiked drinks and a tin of Best Seville Orange Marmalade. Phryne enlists the help of Ruth and Jane in some undercover pursuit, meets Jack Robinson’s wife Rosie and Lin Chung’s prospective wife Camillia and foils an eviction. Hugh Collins accidentally solves a crime in Mildura and Jack Robinson makes a daring food choice. Greenwood gives the reader a bit more of Phryne’s backstory with her activities in Paris amongst the famous and infamous, as well as a cracking good mystery with plenty of intrigue, some excellent twists and a bit of irony. Phryne fans will love it!

Disgrace is the eighth stand-alone novel by award-winning author, J.M.Coetzee. After a short-lived, impulsive affair with a student, Romance poetry teacher, David Lurie resigns his position at Cape Town Technical University and retreats to his daughter’s farm in the South African countryside. They live in relative harmony until an attack leaves them feeling violated and fearful. Lurie returns to Cape Town to work on an opera he is composing about the poet Byron and his lover Teresa. As Coetzee narrates the recent events of Lurie’s life if the face of the changing political landscape of South Africa, he examines a range of topics: aging, lesbianism, a male’s contribution in sex, violence and violation, rape, humiliation, the price to be paid to be permitted to remain peacefully in a land reclaimed by its owners, freedom of speech, freedom to remain silent, power relations and sexual relations. Lurie’s refusal to pay lip service to convention’s demands highlights the inflexible and occasionally ridiculous nature of the system. His daughter tells him, “….surely you know by now that the trials are not about principles, they are about how well you put yourself across.” While there is some excellent prose: “The skull, followed by the temperament: the two hardest parts of the body.” and “The language he draws on with such aplomb is, if he only knew it, tired, friable, eaten from inside as if by termites. Only monosyllables can still be relied on, and not even all of them.”, the writing style is not particularly pleasing and the characters are unappealing and often irritating. I read this book after having read The Childhood of Jesus, which has been predicted to win Coetzee another Booker, to see if I liked it any better than that one. A Man Booker prize winner this one may be, but it confirms for me that I need read no more Coetzee.

Smokin’ Seventeen is the seventeenth full-length novel in the Stephanie Plum series by American author, Janet Evanovich. De rigeur for each Stephanie Plum novel is: Lula needing food at every moment; Grandma Mazur attending at least one funeral home viewing; Stephanie wrecking at least two, and usually more, vehicles; visits to Tasty Pastry and Cluck-in-a-Bucket; Stephanie pursuing skips that are never ordinary; Lula enthusing about a career for which she shows absolutely no talent; Lula gets indignant about someone calling her fat and Stephanie examining her guilt about wanting both Ranger and Morelli. This instalment has all of those and more: Grandma Bella makes a long overdue appearance; Stephanie drives a funeral casket down the main street in a Jeep; Lula’s weapon of choice, when not using her stun gun, is a supersoaker filled with holy water; quite a lot of sex, thanks to Morelli’s Grandma Bella; Lula fears she is growing fangs; there are cockfighting, foodfighting, granny pants and a dancing bear. Stephanie is on at least 3 hit lists, spends a lot of time avoiding people trying to kill, maim or cook for her, and ends up with tickets to Thailand. If the reader guesses the villain before getting even halfway through the story, the finding out how and why is still lots of fun. Best quote: “I’d hate to list our specialties. Wreck cars, eat donuts, create mayhem” which pretty much sums up Lula and Stephanie. Plenty of laughs.

Wicked Appetite is the first book in the Lizzy and Diesel series by Janet Evanovich. Lizzy Tucker doesn’t know that she is a human with special abilities, an Unmentionable, until Diesel turns up in her life. (Diesel first appears in each of the Between the Numbers BTN Stephanie Plum novels). Lizzy is a pastry chef with a special talent for cupcakes (Evanovich does love cupcakes!), and, apparently, also for detecting empowered objects. Diesel needs Lizzy to find certain Stones associated with the Seven Deadly Sins, for which his cousin, the evil Gerwulf Grimoire is also searching (Wulf first appears in Plum Spooky). It appears that Lizzy’s bakery colleagues are more than Normal humans as well: Glo is an enthusiastic if incompetent spell-caster; Clara was an Unmentionable in years previous. Soon Lizzy’s normal life in Marblehead MA (just near Salem) is somehow turned upside down: of the people who hold keys to the Gluttony Stone, one is hexed into gibberish, one’s house is blown to smithereens and another’s apartment is trashed; Lizzy has also acquired a one-eyed cat and Carl, that annoying monkey from the Plum BTN books. I was prepared to not like this very much as I was getting rather fed up with Stephanie, Lula and Carl in the BTN’s, but this series has some fresh new characters and starts off well. The humour relies on Glo’s ineptitude with spells, the effects of the Gluttony charms and, unfortunately, Carl’s antics (again, I say, lose the monkey, Janet). There are explosions, abductions, flying booms, ferrets and olive oil, gnomes, padlocks, bunnies, many children and lots of food. Apparently there will be at least six more, covering the other deadly sins, Lust being covered in Wicked Business. Funny if a little slow.

The Storyteller is the twenty-first novel by award-winning American author, Jodi Picoult. In this thought-provoking novel, Picoult follows her usual format of narration by different voices, but adds an allegorical story written by one of her characters. Reclusive baker, Sage Singer is a young woman scarred by her past and the guilt she carries. Josef Weber is a well-respected old man, a favourite teacher with a shocking secret and a unique request for Sage. Leo Stein is a lawyer with the Department of Justice who hunts war criminals. Minka Singer is Sage’s grandmother and a holocaust survivor. With this cast of characters, Picoult crafts a superb tale that will have the reader engrossed to the very last line. She brings her story to a breathtaking climax that leaves the reader wondering what they themselves might be capable of. Minka summarises it well when she says: “…..there is good and evil in all of us. A monster is just someone for whom the evil has tipped the balance.” As always, Picoult’s research is thorough, wide-ranging and apparent in every paragraph and includes holocaust survivors, concentration camps, mustard gas, baking, death marches, Jewish customs, Polish ghettoes, vampire myths, plant poisons, Nazi hunters, war crimes and gas chambers. Her portrayal of the creation of an SS officer is illuminating. Picoult always presents the reader with at least one dilemma and is an expert at sparking consideration of all sides of an issue. This novel will have the reader thinking about war crimes, vengeance, justice, deceit, repentance, what acts can (or cannot) be forgiven and who has the right to forgive. The most common dilemma with a Picoult novel, however, is this: read fast to know what happens next; or read slowly to prolong the enjoyment. While there is plenty of horror and heartbreak in this story, there is also incredible compassion and kindness, a bit of Haiku and some humour. The Storyteller provides undiluted reading pleasure. Picoult is brilliant and inspired, as always.

The Last Dragonslayer is the first book in the Chronicles of Kazam series by Welsh author Jasper Fforde. Aimed at the Young Adult reader, the heroine is an almost-16-year-old foundling raised by the Blessed Ladies of the Lobster, Jennifer Strange. Whilst her boss, Mr. Zambini (formerly The Great) is absent, Jennifer runs the Kazam Mystical Arts Management, an employment agency for magical arts practitioners, the demand for whom is ever-dwindling with the advent of weather satellites, drain cleaner and motorcycle couriers. But when soothsayers at all levels predict the death of the last Dragon, Maltcassion, Jennifer’s job description seems fated to change. Big Magic is the watchword. This series is set in the Kingdom of Hereford in the Ununited Kingdoms of Great Britain, very much like modern day Britain with its bureaucracy, politics, nepotism and corruption. Fforde creates a cast of Wizards of various talents (sorcery, soothsaying, carpeteering, moving, shifting, birdspeaking, weathermongering) with varying degrees of wizidrical power, a King, a Duke, a Dragonslayer with apprentice, an enchanted lift, a Dragon, an order of nuns, a Childcatcher, a Pollyanna stone, a transient moose and the Quarkbeast (Labrador/velociraptor/kitchen blender). Marzipan is a drug of addiction, magic is highly regulated and the King wants to conquer Wales. As always, Fforde includes some hilarious names : Col. Baggsum Gayme, Yogi Baird and the king’s seer, The Inconsistent Sage O’Neons. The military standoff between the Duke of Brecon and King Snodd is decidedly Monty Pythonish. The dialogue is excellent, the plot, as always, very original and appealing not just to the young adult reader. It has been described as inventive and funny. It’s wizards and dragons, Fforde style, it’s brilliant.