Echoes
Author: Maeve
Binchy
Genre: historical
fiction
Page
number: 737
First
published: 1985
Rating:
stars: five stars
First
sentence: It was sometimes called Brigid’s Cave, the echo cave, and if you shouted
your question loud enough in the right direction you got an answer instead of
an echo.
One
sentence comment: This is a book that makes me care about all the
characters.
Echoes is
another terrific book by Maeve Binchy. The title echoed in a few parts of the
books to imply the deep aspiration from two protagonists, Angela and Clare, to
have someone close to share their burden of life. These two women with about
ten years between them, were caught by dilemmas and had to make decisions of
their owns.
I love the
characters that are strong and warm-hearted. Binchy had a great talent to tell
Irish stories in which people’s lives were rocky and bitter but with humor and
mutual understanding.
The book is
also tinged with mystery. How will Angela and Clare be settled in their small
town life when both of them seem to be misfits. How can Clare fall in love with
David and give up her high hope of career? How will the pains of both family,
the brothers of the two women, face their town people in the end? And how will
Gerry, the lady's man through the book, die in the coast, according to the
beginning of the book?
Absolution by Murder
Author: Peter
Tremayne
Genre: historical
mystery
Page
number: 272
First
published: 1994
Rating:
stars: four stars
First
sentence: The man had not been dead long.
One
sentence comment: I was surprised that Ireland had such a glorious history as a
religious leader in the 7th century.
While
reading the book, I suddenly realized that Ireland had a historical glory over
England where it was a religious leader at that part of world.
Set in the
7th century, a Northern Kingdom in England was torn by religious forces between
Ireland and Rome. Therefore a debate was held among religious leaders in order
to decide which religious rituals to follow for the country. A series of
murders happened during the time.
The heavy
research involved in the book is marvelous. My criticism is that the author is
not a great plotter, because the culprit was so obvious in the beginning of the
investigation.
Still Life
Author: Louise Penny
Genre: mystery
Page number: 318
First published: 2005
Rating: 5 stars
First sentence: Miss Jane Neal met her
maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday.
One sentence comment: I had never read a
modern mystery like this book, so elegant worded with touching thoughts.
Beyond a beautiful cover of the misty
October, this book has brought to me an experience of a remote Canadian
village. Published in the beginning of the 21st century, this book deals with
the issues of our present time - rogue teens, lone elderlies, feeling animals and
people of faltering faith of God. Reading the author's elegant language
combined with elements of art and poetry, I feel the reading week has been a real treat.
The Push
Author: Ashley Audrain
Genre: fiction
Page number: 303
First published: 2021
Rating: 3 stars
First sentence: Your house glows at night
like everything inside is on fire.
One sentence comment: This book reminds me
of the kids I met who played pranks on their friends but were unaffected by their
suffering.
The
narrative of this book is sometimes vivid and thrilling, but superfluous in
many parts.