“The Wizard Hunters” ©2003 by Martha Wells
This is a fantasy novel and the first book in “The fall of Ile-Rien” series. I enjoyed the world-building and the characters. Three separate races are introduced here from three separate worlds. One world where magic is revered and studied, one world where magic is feared and the third world where magic is used for war and to invade the other two worlds. I hope I can find the next book in the series!
“A Pocket Full of Rye” ©1953 by Agatha Christie
Inspector Neele is indeed puzzled by the handful of rye found in the pocket of Rex Fortescue after his death by poisoning. Rex was the head of the Fortescue family and held the money, the jobs, the approval or disapproval of his family and employees. The cast includes: The young wife, the bored daughters/daughter-in-law, the hardworking son, the black sheep son plus interesting servants and employees. Miss Christie spins her tale well and all the characters ‘could’ be the culprit, but wait, more deaths occur and it takes Miss Marple to see. “Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie…” So good!
“The Brides of Maracore” ©2021 by Gregory Maguire
Unbeknownst to me when I was gifted this book is that Gregory Maguire is famous for his book “Wicked” (the one that was made into a Broadway musical) and subsequent books in the series. I guess I have been out of that particular loop. Anyway, “The Brides of Maracoor” is another in his “OZ” collection.
The brides live on a desolate island and have rituals to perform to keep time working; there can only be seven brides. When Rain, who is distinctive because she is green and arrives with a goose who talks, washes ashore, a dilemma is most pronounced as there are now eight brides. When the over-seer arrives on his annual visit things get more complicated.
Nice world building, interesting characters, but not sure I want to continue this series. I think I like OZ how it is in my memory.
“The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Interrupted Tale” ©2013 by Maryrose Wood
This is the fourth book in this enjoyable junior readers series. There are lots of mysteries, lots of humor and some fun facts thrown in. This installment finds Miss Lumley and her three young charges heading for her old school the “Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females” to give a speech and help save the school from the evil new board members. Some expected chaos ensues. A few mysteries are solved and some hints to ongoing mysteries are given. All in all, a fun read!
“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” ©2013 by Neil Gaimen
An incident in an ordinary boy’s life sets off a chain of events and opens a door/portal/opportunity for evil/different/bad somethings to enter our world. The boy meets a friend, her mother and grandmother who turn out to be more than they seem and they help the boy to expel this ‘other’ from our world. A little spooky and very good!
“Waiting for the Revolution: a Montana Memoir” ©2019 by Jo Anne Salisbury Troxel
This memoir of Jo Anne’s family also includes interesting politics of the 1920’s and beyond in NE Montana. Her parents were very active politically and her dad was County Sherriff who served three terms on the Communist ticket. I had no idea that the Communist Party was as widespread and active as it was in the 1920’s. I think these days you hear the word “Communist” and there are only negative images. But at that time, the Communist party was interested in helping the farmers and laborers and they had a newspaper, meeting halls, civic endeavors and etc.
Jo Anne’s family history is complicated by the fact that her parents were married to other people while they were having children together. Eventually they moved to a different town and lived together. Unfortunately, her father died young and unexpectedly and that changed the course of the family’s lives. The rest of the book is mostly straight memoir.
Interesting and quite well written.
“Singing in the Shrouds” ©1958 by Ngaio Marsh
A serial murder is at large and is aboard a ship with nine passengers. Superintendent Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard goes undercover and must get to know his fellow passengers and figure out which one is killer before he strikes again. The hard drinking ship’s Captain is no help. The Doctor and the Priest are happy to be in Alleyn’s confidence. The passengers are all ‘characters’ and most are looked at suspiciously, but the twist was still good. Enjoyable mystery.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” ©1964, 1972 by Roald Dahl
Because of the two movie adaptations of “Charlie and the Chocolate factory” that have been made, I think the story is fairly familiar to most. What I didn’t realize is that the sequel “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” starts literally where the first one ended which is in the Great Glass Elevator as Willie Wonka tells Charlie and his grandpa that Charlie is to inherit the factory. While in the elevator, they go and pick up Charlie’s parents and the rest of the Grandparents and head to outer space! Chaos ensues!
After reading these two books, I re-watched the 1971 movie that stars Gene Wilder. This movie rather scared me as a kid. I thought the 2005 version with Johnny Depp was just as scary. These books are not to my particular taste. I can see why I was never tempted to read them as a child, especially after watching the movie version. I can also understand how these books and Roald Dahl stories in general would appeal to many young people. Everything is slightly off kilter and a little crazy, but all in all good natured.