Me Talk Pretty One Day is the 6th book of collected essays by David Sedaris. In part one, Sedaris touches on speech therapy for his lisp at school, guitar lessons from a midget, inherited traits, artistic talent, sibling swearing, family pets, working as a teacher, toilet legacies, odd jobs, eating out in NYC, visitors to NYC, outward appearances, and technophobia. Part two focuses mainly on his life with his partner Hugh in France and explores traveling to France, taking French language lessons, feast days, the sex of words, Hugh’s childhood in Africa, word puzzles, movie subtitles, the behavior of vacationing Americans, epic daydreams, food economy and IQ tests. My favorite chapter was Jesus Shaves. I tried to read this to friends but dissolved into laughter every time. Sedaris has the reader constantly smiling, chuckling, giggling and often laughing out loud. Sedaris is witty and clever and reading his work is an unalloyed pleasure.

The Hunger Games is the 7th book by Suzanne Collins and the first in the Hunger Games trilogy. It is set in a future time, in a country called Panem, situated in the remains of North America. Panem consists of the Capitol and 12 surrounding Districts, and is a place where life is decidedly less than pleasant for the majority of the population. Narrated by Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old from District 12, it describes a society strictly governed, lives of deprivation, reduced to illegal hunter-gatherer activities to avoid starvation, and tells of the hardship of surviving. Katniss is one of 24 “tributes”, picked by lottery in each District, to participate in a “Survivor”-type situation, the annual (and nationally televised for compulsory viewing) Hunger Games, a fight to the death with only one winner. It is clear that Collins has done extensive research into hunting, gathering and wilderness survival. The novel emphasises the contrasts between the sumptuous wealth of Capitol and poverty of the Districts. The story reflects real life in that it shows how important image, strategy and sponsors are to success. It is ultimately shows real life stresses condensed in time and magnified in intensity. Think reality TV mixed with wartime battles: this is where Collins got her inspiration. Definitely not Capital L literature, but a page-turner and addictive all the same: you will be seeking out the second installment, Catching Fire.

The Silent Girl is the 9th book in Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli/Isles series. A severed hand found in a Chinatown alley leads Jane Rizzoli to the owner of the hand on a rooftop: a woman almost decapitated. Investigation eventually links the body with a murder/suicide nineteen years earlier in a Chinatown restaurant that left five people dead. As Rizzoli and her team review the case, it appears that one woman connected to the massacre, a martial arts master, is unconvinced about the conclusions made in that investigation. Gerritsen once again gives us an imaginative plot with twists to the very last chapter, realistic characters and authentic dialogue. The feel of Chinatown and the Chinese mindset are deftly portrayed, obviously from first-hand knowledge. Once again, we are presented with a wealth of interesting facts in an easy-to-assimilate form, this time about hair analysis, ancient Chinese weaponry, metal analysis, Chinese legend & folklore and running amok. Gerritsen touches on police brutality, prejudice, collective guilt of an ethnic group, sexual predators, Chinese language and the Irish Mafia. The antics of Rizzoli’s family once again provide some lighter moments, and Johnny Tam, a Chinese-born detective seconded to help out, makes a laugh-out-loud statement: “I wish I could speak Cantonese, but it’s like Greek to me”. I noticed that Maura’s autopsy measurements were in centimetres rather than inches and I wondered if this is usual practice in this field in USA. A character from Maura’s adventure in The Killing Place makes a welcome appearance. Once again, a thoroughly enjoyable Gerritsen page-turner: I look forward to the next Rizzoli/Isles instalment.

The Great Fire is the 5th novel by Australian author, Shirley Hazzard. Set firstly in immediate post-war Japan and Hong Kong, then in England and New Zealand, this is the story of Aldred Leith, author, researching a book on China and Japan and Peter Exley, solicitor and fine art enthusiast, investigating Japanese war crimes. Leith encounters, whilst researching Hiroshima, a brother and sister, Ben and Helen Driscoll. Ben has a condition which is slowly killing him. Helen is on the cusp of adulthood. Essentially a love story, this novel is filled with beautiful, descriptive prose, but builds very slowly and Hazzard seems somewhat detached from her characters. Her love of literature is apparent. I liked the device Hazzard used to indicate thoughts during dialogue. ‘this is what he said’, and what he thought as he was saying it, ‘and what else he said’. It certainly made me pay attention to the quotation marks. As with the Transit of Venus, this novel is beautifully written and lovers of language will enjoy the experience. I found the plot and the characters much better than Transit and overall, certainly a more satisfying novel than The Transit of Venus.

Corduroy Mansions is the first of the Corduroy Mansions series by Alexander McCall Smith. This novel is along the same style as the 44 Scotland Street series: it was originally published on the Telegraph.co.uk website in daily chapters. The setting here is a run-down block of flats in Pimlico. The residents are William, a wine merchant and his lazy son Eddie; the girls in the first floor flat, Caroline, Jenny, Dee and Jo; and Basil Wickramsinghe. Associated characters are William’s friend, caterer Marcia; Caroline’s friends, fellow student James and photographer Tim Something; Jenny’s boss, MP Oedipus Snark; Oedipus’ girlfriend, publisher Barbara Ragg; Oedipus’ mother, psychologist Berthea and her brother Terence, an enthusiast of Sacred Dance; Barbara Ragg’s partner, Rupert Porter; and, last, but certainly not least, Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier, retrenched airport sniffer dog and eventual companion to William.
I have read criticism of this book that it is the same as 44 Scotland Street. I don’t agree and unless it was word for word and character for character the same, anything written by Alexander McCall Smith is worth reading. His books are about his characters, their foibles and virtues, and their interactions with each other and the world at large. Their comments about people and situations are what makes McCall Smith’s books such a joy to read. His sharp powers of observation of the human race translate to characters and dialogue that we can all identify with, having had those thoughts ourselves or heard those comments from others. I spend the whole of these novels chuckling or laughing out loud. Can’t wait for the second installment, The Dog Who Came In From The Cold.

The Killing Place is the 8th in Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli/Isles series. It’s cold, it’s November and Maura Isles is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a pathologists’ conference. Things are less than ideal in her relationship with Daniel Brophy, and whilst at the conference, she runs into a college acquaintance, Doug Comley. She makes an impulsive choice to accompany his party to an isolated ski lodge and finds herself, their vehicle stranded in deep snow, in the deserted village of Kingdom Come. When Maura appears to have gone missing, Jane Rizzoli, Gabriel Dean and Daniel Brophy fly to Wyoming to investigate. Their crashed vehicle with four badly burned bodies inside seems to indicate the worst for Maura. Gerritsen departs from her usual crime committed, investigated and pathology done formula: this book has a bit of a Karin Slaughter feel. But once again, an original plot with twists to the end (if you think you know whodunit, you will get a surprise!), credible characters and authentic dialogue. Once again, we are treated to plenty of interesting facts in easily-digestible morsels, this time about the autopsy of poisoning victims, septicaemia and cult religious groups. Gerritsen touches on Stockholm syndrome, polygamy, paedophilia, police corruption, charismatic leaders, mass suicide, gangrene, amputation and toxic waste disposal. Another great Gerritsen read.

The Bone Garden is the 13th stand-alone novel by Tess Gerritsen. While it is not a Rizzoli/Isles book, Maura Isles does make a fleeting appearance at the beginning of the book. The novel tells two stories set in different time periods. The present day story concerns recently-divorced Julia Hamill who uncovers the skeleton of a female murder victim whilst digging the garden of her just-purchased home. It turns out the body has been buried sometime before 1840, and Julia is intrigued about the circumstances of the murder and burial. Then Henry Page, the elderly cousin of Hilda Chamblett, the recently-deceased former owner of Julia’s house, contacts her with information which may solve the puzzle. As they sift through the letters and newspaper clippings Hilda left behind, the main story comes out. It occurs in 1830 in Boston, where medical student Norris Marshall is engaging in grave robbing to pay for his tuition. When two nurses and a doctor are brutally murdered, Norris becomes a suspect. Somehow, Irish seamstress Rose Connolly and her newborn, orphaned niece, Meggie are involved. Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of Norris’s fellow med students, joins him in an effort to prove his innocence.
Gerritsen gives us a gripping plot with quite a few twists, interesting characters, some of whom are not what they first seem and credible dialogue. Add to this a gutsy 19th century heroine and you have a great tale. Gerritsen also drops in snippets of information about the discovery of infection control, surgery in the 19th century, Rosicrucians and abolitionism. Julia manages to discover the identity of her skeleton, and the murderer, making this the ultimate cold case. A great Gerritsen read.

Caleb’s Crossing is the fourth novel by Geraldine Brooks. As with her other novels, fiction is built on fact. In this case the fact is the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the young son of a Wampanoag chieftain, who, in 1665, was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. The story is narrated by Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of a Calvinist minister living on the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard), and begins when twelve-year-old Bethia meets Caleb whilst she is out gathering clams. Bethia’s diary paints a vivid picture of life in an English Puritan settlement in the 17th century, and the effects on both cultures of interaction with the Native population. As events unfold, we watch Bethia, in her innocence and ignorance, using faulty logic, come to incorrect conclusions and thus suffers unwarranted guilt. As Bethia grows and matures, so does her narrative voice. The struggle between the English ministers and the Native medicine men for the acceptance of their beliefs amongst the native population is well portrayed. Caleb’s stubborn uncle, medicine man Tequamuk, seems remarkably prescient on the subject of the future of Native Americans.
Each time I pick up a book, fiction or non-fiction, by Geraldine Brooks, I look at the description on the jacket and wonder if I am going to like this one. By now, I should have learned that, no matter the subject matter, this author does not disappoint her readers. The depth of her research stands out. Her characters are always well developed, the dialogue is authentic, and she manages to convey the mood and atmosphere perfectly. Brooks manages to squeeze a wealth of facts into an easily-digestible package. I laughed and cried. I especially loved Caleb’s explanation and opinions on the native and English gods. I enjoyed this novel more than I expected to. It was engrossing and enlightening. The afterword was especially interesting. Once again, Brooks gives us a wonderful read.

The Mephisto Club is the 6th of Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli/Isles series. On Christmas Eve, Rizzoli and Isles are called to a horrific murder scene where the female victim has been decapitated and dismembered. During the autopsy, however, they realise there must be more than one victim as the left hand does not match the arm. And a call has been made from the victim’s phone to Dr Joyce O’Donnell, the neuropsychiatrist who has made a career of defending serial killers. Before they can discover to whom the hand belongs, one of their own, a female police detective, is murdered in the backyard of a house where Joyce O’Donnell is dining. Symbols and words at both crime scenes, made with an unusual ochre clay, point to a Satanic element; or do they? When events in Isles’ personal life coincide with the same symbols on her own front door, the action really starts to heat up. And Rizzoli has problems of her own with the way her parents are behaving. Gerritsen gives us two back stories which will have the reader convinced they know who the culprit is, although everyone but Rizzoli starts to wonder if their perp is, in fact, human. Gerristen touches on celibacy in the Church, secret societies, Satanic possession, mid-life crisis, and whether evil can have a physical form. Once again, Rizzoli provides some humour; the story is full of suspense and has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engrossed. Another Gerritsen winner.

Vanish is the fifth of Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli/Isles series. The story starts with Maura Isles discovering a female in a body bag, an apparent drowning victim, who isn’t dead. Transferred to the hospital, the woman becomes violent, shoots a security guard and takes hostages. Jane Rizzoli, about to give birth, happens to be in the wrong place and becomes one of the hostages. Her husband, FBI Agent Gabriel Dean, her Boston PD colleagues and Maura Isles spare no effort trying to track down the woman’s identity and her reasons for the siege. Once again, Gerritsen brings the reader a gripping drama, with Jane Rizzoli providing many lighter moments. In the court scene, Rizzoli conclusively proves that, even at 9 months pregnant, she is still a cop. As well as exploring Rizzoli’s doubts about her mothering ability and her concern with her lack of maternal instinct (topical for many first-time mothers), Gerritsen touches on subjects as diverse as sex slave trafficking, war profiteering and sieges and negotiators. As always, an excellent plot with a few twists makes this book hard to put down. Gerritsen at her finest.

The Apprentice is the second novel in Tess Gerritsen’s Jane Rizzoli/Maura Iles series, and the first book in which Maura Iles makes her appearance. About a year after Rizzoli solved “The Surgeon” case and sent Warren Hoyt to jail, another hot Boston summer sees another serial killer on the loose. This killer is mimicking many of The Surgeon’s actions, but with some differences. As Warren Hoyt is safely locked up, is this a copycat? As well as dealing the with the psychological scarring the Surgeon inflicted on her, Rizzoli is once again up against her male chauvinist colleagues, but now there’s also an (extremely attractive) FBI agent, Gabriel Dean, who has involved himself in her case (why?). The autopsies are performed by the very efficient Maura Iles, often dubbed “The Queen of the Dead”. Soon, to everyone’s dismay, Hoyt is no longer in custody, and it seems the killers are a team. Even as she is giving us a solid plot enriched with detail, Gerritsen once again touches on issues: women needing to prove themselves capable and strong; the “victim” role; the use of neuropsychiatry as a defence; is the hunting instinct in our DNA and if so, what stops us as humans from acting on our less appropriate instincts. The characters, the dialogue, the descriptions are all convincing. Plenty of suspense: another page-turner. I’m looking forward to reading The Sinner.

No, it's not Douglas Adams (although bits of it very likely are), after all, he (sadly) died in 2001. It's Eoin Colfer, doing his best to be true to Douglas Adams' style, bringing our favourite H2G2 characters back to us for another episode, trying to put a little something into the awful vacuum that Adams' death created.
Was it worth buying and reading? I certainly think so. I enjoyed it, perhaps not as much as the first ones, but I liked it. For me, it'll be a keeper.
Would I buy volume seven of the trilogy if Colfer wrote it? Sure. Although I think I'd like Terry Pratchett to have a go..........
I'll definitely be reading all six again.

My Sister’s Keeper is Jodi Picoult’s 11th novel. It centres around Anna Fitzgerald who has retained lawyer Campbell Alexander to sue her parents for the right to her own body. Anna was conceived to provide (initially) cord blood for her older sister Kate who has leukaemia. As she has grown up and as Kate’s disease has progressed, more and more has been demanded of Anna’s body for her sister. The story of what happens is told in several voices: Anna’s, her mother Sara’s, her brother Jesse’s, her father Brian’s, her lawyer Campbell’s, and her guardian ad litem, Julia’s. this is a provocative novel that does not shy away from the issues: conceiving a child to save another; who has rights over a minor’s body; is it possible to love a child too much; is it possible to love all one’s children equally; teenage pyromania. As always, Picoult handles the court scenes with finesse, and the final twist makes for a perfect ending. A great read!

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter is the first novel by Kim Edwards. The story is set in the 1960s and involves a doctor, David Henry, whose wife, Norah, goes into labour during a snowstorm. Unable to get to the hospital, he takes her to his surgery, where his nurse, Caroline Gil, assists with the birth. Norah delivers twins, a boy, Paul, and a girl, Phoebe: the boy is perfect, the girl is obviously mongoloid. Convinced that his wife will be unable to cope with their daughter’s disability, he tells Caroline to take Phoebe to a children’s home, and later tells his wife the baby did not survive. Caroline, unable to bring herself to leave Phoebe as instructed, takes her away to another town and decides to bring her up as her own daughter. The events that flow on from that decision made by Dr Henry, and the one by Caroline Gil, show how a person’s life can truly hinge on one moment. This is a truly moving novel, heartbreaking in places, heartwarming in others. A thought-provoking page-turner. An excellent read.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is Audrey Niffenegger’s second novel. This is the story of Henry DeTamble (the Time Traveler) and Clare Abshire (the Time Traveler’s Wife). Clare first meets Henry when she is six years old and he suddenly appears, naked, in the Meadow near her home: he’s thirty-six at the time. On the other hand, Henry first meets Clare in the library where he works, when he’s twenty-eight and she’s twenty. Henry has a condition called Chrono-Displacement Disorder, which has him disappearing and reappearing into various times in the past and future. This is ultimately a beautiful love story with a time-travel twist, which adds a different dimension to the story: humour in some parts, horror or heartache in others. Whilst reading this book can be confusing at first, once you realise that Clare’s story moves forward normally in time, and you remember to pay attention to Henry’s age in the headings, it all starts to make sense. Henry and Clare’s ardour and their attempts to lead a normal life, to have a family, in the face of his disorder, make for a memorable and deeply stirring tale. Niffenegger is skilled with prose and plot; the reader is held enthralled as her imagination is transformed into words. This novel has been described as enchanting, moving, extraordinary, haunting, compelling, a soaring love story: I agree with all of those. I laughed and cried. I so love this book: it is one of my all-time favourite novels. Writing this review has made me want to read it yet again.

The Distant Hours is Australian author, Kate Morton’s third novel. The novel plays out over two time periods: the early 1940s and 50 years later. The story begins when Meredith Burchill receives a letter that has been delayed by 50 years. The letter is from one of the Blythe sisters of Milderhurst Castle in Kent, to where Meredith was evacuated from London during the war. Her daughter Edith watches her reaction and is inwardly sceptical when her mother dismisses the letter as unimportant. Sometime later, Edith’s publishing job takes her near Milderhurst Castle, where she is drawn to know more about the place her mother stayed, the place that was also home to the famous author, Raymond Blythe. She meets the elderly sisters Blythe: the twins, Persephone (Percy) and Seraphina (Saffy) and the much younger (and mad) Juniper (June), during a tour of the Castle. Whilst there, she hears something of the events of 50 years previous that have left Juniper stuck on October 29th, 1941. Juniper still waits for the expected fiancé who never arrived. This book is filled with wonderful prose (“And then had come the rain, great sobbing drops that brought an immediate sheen to the world.” and “The room bore an unmistakeable signature of stillness”). The characters develop well: Morton binds the sisters in an intricate tangle of love and duty and resentment. The plot is involved and interesting enough to keep the reader turning pages. By about a third of the way through I was convinced I had figured out who dunnit, as I think many readers will be. It was such a lovely read, though, that I kept going and was duly surprised by the twist at the end. The epilogue was a superb touch. A very enjoyable read.

La’s Orchestra Saves the World is a stand-alone novel by Alexander McCall-Smith. It is set around the time of the Second World War in England. Lavender Stone (La to her friends) leaves London for a Suffolk village in the wake of a disastrous marriage. When the war starts, she becomes a part of the small community in her village. She sets up an orchestra which brings the village and the men on the nearby airbase together and gives them some hope for the future. She also meets Feliks, a shy Polish pilot who has an unexpected effect on her. For me, this book somehow has the feel of Mary Ann Shaffer’s Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, perhaps because it is set in the same time period. The end seemed to be headed for a let-down, but the last page was a pleasant surprise. As with all Alexander McCall-Smith’s books, filled with gentle philosophy: it was a joy to read.

The Lost Symbol is the 3rd in Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series. The story goes over 24 hours and starts with Langdon being flown by private jet to Washington to give a lecture as a favour to his long-time friend (and Mason), Peter Solomon. Soon enough, this turns out to be a ruse, and Langdon finds himself at the Capitol’s Rotunda where Solomon’s severed and tattooed hand is left by a mysterious man. Langdon’s expertise as a symbologist is demanded to find and solve legendary Masonic Pyramid. The CIA are involved, and soon the action hots up. This book is (of course, as a Robert Langdon novel) filled with symbols, codes and puzzles, religious icons, lots of technology, chases and escapes, a seemingly invincible villain who is not what he seems, plot twists, apparently impossible resurrections and a virtual travelogue of Washington DC. There are some obvious flaws, and we are asked to believe that some characters will bizarrely put up with lengthy and unnecessary inconvenience. It is fiction, after all. But it is, nonetheless, exciting and fast moving. There are many facts about Washington and Masons and Ancient Mysteries. I couldn’t get the image of Tom Hanks out of my head for Robert Langdon, although he really doesn’t fit this description. I thought the climax was a bit anti-. Entertaining, all the same.

Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is a “must read”. It is by no means an easy book to read; it is sometimes quite confronting; in places you will cry; you will be disgusted by the actions of some members of the human race, both male and female; the words and actions of some medical personnel, aid agencies, churches and governments will leave you gasping. But ultimately, this is a hopeful book. The authors explore causes of, and possible solutions to, maternal mortality, human trafficking, sexual violence, discrimination against girls and female genital mutilation. This book tells us that at least part of the answer is gender equality: educate and empower women. It is full of data, but also full of humanity. It has a few surprising facts about diverse things such as sweatshops, about Rwanda, about what interventions are and aren’t effective, about TV and about salt. It demonstrates how local knowledge and grassroots programs are most effective in educating and empowering women.
I found myself frowning, smiling, crying and, quite a few times, laughing out loud! I especially enjoyed the way the Huichol tribe in Mexico ensure that the pain of childbirth is shared. If you despair at whether you can make a difference to the plight of women in the Third World, this book shows that you can. If the only action a person can take is to donate money, then this book guides the reader to where that will be most effective. We owe it to every woman who has ever suffered in the Third World to read this book.

The Almost Moon is the second novel by Alice Sebold. Helen Knightly narrates the story, which begins when she murders her mother, Clair. As we follow events over the next 24 hours, we learn about Helen’s life and what brought her to this momentous act: her love-hate relationship with her mentally-ill mother; her career as an artist’s model; her failed marriage; her dysfunctional relationship with her daughters. Helen has spent her whole life exposed to mental illness so it seems almost inevitable that she will question her own sanity. Sebold explores loyalty and devotion, and the fine line that exists between the impulse and the act. This is a powerful and passionate story, full of black humour. I enjoyed The Lovely Bones: this one is at least as good, if not better!