Merde Happens by Stephen Clarke

Read courtesy of Thor

I have read all of the previous offerings of Merde (lol) & have giggled happily through them all. I love Clarke’s character Paul & love reading about his crazy adventures in the Merde. I think they are brilliant books!

On Christmas Day I downloaded Merde Happens onto Thor, but put off starting it partly because I was already reading a book, but also as the main point of having Thor is so that I can read my review books, not to buy books to read, so there was some reluctance & guilt thrown into the mix. I waited until the day before we returned from Canada to start reading Merde Happens & have been reading it on the bus to & from work most days, which has resulted in a few weird looks from people as they look around to see what I am sniggering about.

I couldn’t recommend the first two books enough & this third installment did not disappoint. Merde Happens sees our protagonist, Paul West hired to be the front man on a tour of the USA, promoting Britain & British ways, as part of a campaign to win the Tourism country of the year. Paul, and his girlfriend Alexa, head off on a grand journey with stops in NYC, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, then on to Hollywood for the voting (all in a candy-apple red Mini with the Union Jack painted on the roof).  Along the way Paul has the mis-fortune of running into misfortune every step of the way, often with hilarious outcomes.

One of the best things about this series of books (besides the hilarity) is that you don’t necessarily need to have read the preceding books to enjoy the other offerings. All three books are lighthearted, tongue firmly in cheek, looks at the relationships between Brits & the French & all three will have you laughing out loud (the first two slightly more so) & wondering when the next installment will be along. So, will Paul make it to the final city & the final vote in one piece? Will his relationship with Alexa survive all the things that keep happening? Guess you have to read the book to find out!

 

The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe by Douglas Rogers

  I was given this book  by my boss, a Zim expat who has been in the UK for over 20 years. It was his Mother’s book & he says he hasn’t read it – but I am going to suggest to him that he should. The Last Resort is the story of Lyn & Ros Rogers, owners of Drifters, the backpackers lodge. Douglas is their son & is a travel writer. Through his visits to Zimbabwe to see his parents (& to chronicle the 2000 elections) Douglas decides to make a record of what is happening in Zimbabwe – not just to the white farmers, but also to the blacks.

The book begins with Douglas in the UK, where he is a fledgling travel reporter. He sees a report on the news about a white farmer being murdered by the “veterans” who had come to take over his farm & he begins to fear the worst for his parents. He makes the decision to return to Zimbabwe to visit his parents & to cover the upcoming elections. Over the course of many years & many visits Douglas chronicles what is happening in Zimbabwe, through covering what is happening to his family.

His father, a successful lawyer turned farmer, turned game farm & hostel owner, Lyn & his mother, Ros face constant terror – living with the knowledge that white farmers are being killed, that white-owned farms are being repossessed & given to people who have no knowledge of farming & they live in constant fear that they are next. But, they don’t let their fear stop them – quite the opposite, really. They do everything in their power to make sure that they hang onto their game-farm (even after their fences have been cut down & the wires used to poach their animals). Once the animals (and the tourists) are gone it’s a fight for survival in a country of increasing brutality. A country where inflation is astronomical & the government are printing money like it’s going out of style (resulting in Million dollar notes & the necessity to carry backpacks full of bricks of notes to buy even the basics).

Lyn & Ros do everything in their power to succeed – including renting out their once famous & beloved backpackers to a guy who turns the cottages into a brothel (then experiment with growing pot, and eventually they become a watering hole for the illegal diamond traders). Rogers gives a real in site into the Zimbabwe we don’t get to see on the news & a scary Zimbabwe it is! The country is in turmoil, the majority of the white farmers have left the country, heading for Mozambique where they and their farming skills are being welcomed with open arms, taking with them centuries of skills & bringing the collapse of the countries’ farming sector.

Rogers shows us both sides of the coin – speaking to the displaced white farmers (like Piet De Klerk whose sons were early vocal supporters of the MDC – Movement for Democratic Change) and to the “Veterans” who took over the farm.

An example of the insanity propagated by the Mugabe government is Kondozi, one of the most viable commercial farms in the country (formerly owned by the de Klerks). Kondozi is the biggest employer of black labour in the region, with around 6,000 working directly for the de Klerks, and thousands more drawing salaries from jobs that grew to exist because of the farm (ie: teachers in nearby schools attended by the workers’ children, merchants, tradesmen, etc).

But the de Klerks don’t own Kondozi any more & havn’t since 2004, after war veterans drove everybody out. The governor of Manicaland now owns it — because he unilaterally seized it — when he was the Mugabe regime’s transport minister. Kondozi now lies mostly fallow and is a metaphor for the economic ruin of Zimbabwe.The de Klerks now live in a cottage on the back of Drifters, & there Douglas gets to know them – and others. Drifters has become a refuge for whites who have lost everything they worked so hard for over the decades.

Rogers also gets the opportunity to speak to Morgan Tsvangurai, after a political rally. Tsvangurai represents the change that could be in Zimbabwe, but can not presently be. Tsvangurai has high hopes for the country, but can his party oust Zanu-PF in the (then) upcoming elections? Only time will tell.

 The Last Resort introduces us to a lot of characters – people who have stayed in Zimbabwe for a variety of reasons & who are doing everything in their power to survive in a country that has a government hell-bent on destroying the country it presides over. It is a powerful look into the Zimbabwe of today – the Zimbabwe we don’t get to see & I would highly recommend that anyone with any interest in the world at all should read this book. Trust me – you will have a new-found respect for your own country & how good you have it & you will develop a powerful empathy for the people of Zimbabwe (both black and white) & an intense disgust for Mugabe & those who support him (directly or indirectly). Maybe if enough of us take umbrage with what is happening something will get done to change Zimbabwe for the better. I sure hope for the sake of all those left in Zimbabwe that it happens soon!

Eating my words…

“I don’t have an e-reader & would never (although they do say never say “never”) buy one.” – oh how I knew that those words would come back to haunt me! Technically the above is still partially true – I do now have an e-reader, but I didn’t buy it. Does that count? My main Christmas present this year was a Kindle.

Thor – My Kindle

So now it is time to eat my words! Don’t get me wrong, I am not thrilled with the idea of having the Kindle (which is why I’ve given it the name Thor) – I suspect I am going to have a very volatile relationship with my Kindle, so a strong name like Thor is fitting(for those of you who may not know, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning & storms – aka: volatile things).

I’ve now had Thor in my life for 6 days & I have only bought one book – but haven’t started reading it yet (partly because I am in the middle of a really good paperback about Zimbabwe & partly because I feel like a bit of a fraud).  Need to get over that though, because the reason I needed the Kindle was so that I could continue to read review books. I love the idea of being able to read books & review them here on my blog – books that authors have sent me, or books through the various other possible sources (librarything early reviewers, Netgalley, Smashwords, Nurture Book Tourz, etc), but they are all e-books these days. Not having an e-reader meant that I had to read the books off of my laptop, which I just could not do. This has meant that I now have a massive backlog of books waiting to be read, with no chance of them being read any time soon.

So, now I have bitten the bullet & am the owner of a Kindle (but I’m going to dig my heals in & refuse to like it for a little while longer! )

Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman

For a long time Jonathan Kellerman’s books were like an old friend – something I could count on to read when I was in need of a good book. I eagerly awaited each new installment, biding my time reading other books. Then I moved over here to the UK & discovered that Kellerman’s books weren’t so easy to find, so I moved on to other authors & left Kellerman (& Alex Dellaware) behind.

Then, gradually I started seeing Kellerman books on the shelves in the books stores, but there was always some other book I wanted to read more. Then a couple weeks ago I was in Sainsbury’s looking at the books & there, amongst the others on the shelves was Mystery. I picked it up & added it to my basket. It was the first Kellerman book I had bought in ten years, so I was a little worried I’d be too far behind to enjoy the story, but I needn’t have worried.

It was like slipping into a conversation that I had started ages ago with a dear friend – things had moved on, but I still knew what was happening – it was almost as though no time had passed at all.

Alex & Robin decide to attend the closing event for the Beverly Fauberg hotel (one of their favourite places to go for drinks), which is being torn down. While there they observe a beautiful young girl all dressed in white, obviously waiting for someone to arrive. A few days later Alex discovers through Milo, that the woman they saw was murdered after she left the Fauberg. Soon, Alex & Robin are involved in the case, since they were possibly the last ones to see this young lady alive.

Mystery is typical in the Alex Dellaware novels – lots of twists & turns, Alex & Milo working together to solve the case. It was a nice pleasant read – like slipping into your favourite pair of pyjamas. Guess it’s time to dig out the ones I missed in the 11 years that passed between us!

Favourite authors, revisited

I often become “attached” to an author & read everything they publish (Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell – before her books went off the rails, Linda Fairstein, Tess Gerritsen, Ian Rankin), but all of this was started with my love of Jonathan Kellerman’s writing. I’m pretty sure it was my Mom that introduced me to Kellerman & I instantly fell in love with his writing & eagerly awaited every new offering (sometimes for as long as 2 years). He was easily my favourite author. Then, I moved over here to the UK where I knew no one else who read his books & got introduced to other authors who became firm favourites – Child, Reichs & others.

Unfortunately all of these new authors lead to Kellerman being relegated to the literary scrap heap of my reading & the last book of his I had read was Dr. Death way back in 2000 – it was the first (& last) of his books that I would buy over here. His books were difficult to find & all these new authors meant that Kellerman fell further & further off the radar. Too many great books, too little time!!

Over the past couple of years I have started to see Kellerman’s books on the shelves in both the book stores & in the supermarkets & I kept telling myself I should pick them up again to read, but just didn’t. I did miss the books (I loved the characters of Alex Dellaware & Milo Sturgis. They were like old friends in a distant city.  You know they’re there, you never speak to them because life gets in the way, but just know that, should your paths cross again, it would be like no time had passed & you’d be able to pick up just about where you left off last time you saw each other.

So, a couple weeks ago I was in Sainsbury’s looking for new books to read & there, staring me in the face was the latest offering from Kellerman. I hesitated because it’s been 11 years & 12 books in the Dellaware series since I read anything Kellerman had written, so maybe I should just walk away is what I was thinking. I picked up Mystery (said Kellerman book) & read the back of the book, then put it back – too much time had passed & if I was going to start reading Kellerman I really should start with the next book in order, right? Only, I didn’t. I couldn’t. I needed to buy it & read it – so I did. I’ve been reading it every day since (on the bus to & from work) & I am so glad I bought it! It’s like finding that distant best friend again! I’ve slipped into that old familiarity of a long lost friend, so I guess I best head out & buy the ones I’ve missed over the last 11 years!

Chic-lit just for girls?

So, the other day I got on the bus (after having had to run for it) & the only seat left on the lower deck was way at the back. I sauntered back & plonked myself into my seat & opened my book (Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman) to start reading. I happened to glance to the right & noticed that the person in the seat diagonal to me was reading as well. They were reading some chic lit book – can’t remember the title now, but I know the cover was a very soft pink & it was something like “House Husband” or something like that.

Then I looked at the person reading said book & had to do a bit of a double take cause it was a guy! Ok, I’m all for equal opportunity & all that, but it was weird seeing a guy reading a book which is clearly marketed to women. Weirder that he was doing it in public! (Listen to me, I’m making it sound like he was involved in some indecent activity instead of just reading a book!). Or, am I the weird one for thinking it weird that a guy would want to read chic lit?

Do you know any guys who read chic lit? I don’t (or at least not that I am aware of). My OH makes fun of me when I read chic lit & I cannot imagine him sitting on the bus with a pink paperback. I just don’t see that happening in this lifetime! Don’t get me wrong, he’s not all “I only read hard man books!” (lol), quite the opposite, he’d likely take the piss out of someone for reading them as well – he’s more into his intellectual snobbery books.

 

Never Look Away by Lynwood Barclay

It starts with a trip to a local amusement park. David Harwood is hoping a carefree day will help dispel his wife Jan’s recent depression that has led to frightening thoughts of suicide. Instead, a day of fun with their son Ethan turns into a nightmare. When Jan disappears from the park, David’s worst fears seem to have come true. But when he goes to the police to report her missing, the facts start to indicate something very different. The park’s records show that only two tickets were purchased, and CCTV shows no evidence that Jan ever entered the park at all. Suddenly David’s story starts to look suspicious – and the police to wonder if Jan’s already dead, murdered by her husband. To prove his innocence and keep his son from being taken away from him, David is going to have to dig deep into the past and come face to face with a terrible childhood tragedy – but by doing that he could risk destroying everything precious to him…(from Amazon)

David & Jan Harwood are living the American Dream – decent jobs (He’s a reporter for the local newspaper, she’s a shop assistant in the local air conditioning shop), they have a nice house, a small son & are close to his parents. It’s just about perfect. Then Jan starts to change & David finds himself in the middle of the hunt for his wife when she goes missing from the amusement park. Questions are beginning to be asked about David’s involvement, even though David insists he doesn’t know where his wife has disappeared to.

Never Look Away has a storyline that will keep you hooked. Even though I was only reading this on the bus journeys to & from work, I devoured it!

This is the 3rd Lynwood Barclay book I have read & it was as good as the first two. Barclay is quite adept at building the story, taking you in one direction while the story is actually headed the other way, dropping hints along the way to lead you back to where the plot was really headed all along.

Never Look Away is really a story within a story, with David Harwood tying the two together (can’t talk about the second story – it’d give too much away!). Never Look Away does make you ask the question “How well do you really know the people you love?”

The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz by Denis Avey with Rob Broomby

I started reading this book around a month ago & finished it on Wednesday. I’m still not sure how I feel about this book – I’m so torn!

I think the only way I can really understand my feelings is by putting them into writing, which means that if you think you might want to read this book, you may want to skip this post, because I am going to go into far greater detail about what happens in the book than I normally do. You have been warned!

I’ll admit it, I was drawn by the cover & the title. How could you not be?! Imagine it – you’re a POW & you break into Auschwitz & live to tell about it…WOW! What a scary experience & what a story!

Well, of course I had to buy it & read it & what a conversation starter this book was! Not long after starting to read The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz my OH & I were on a train to London. While on the train 2 people specifically asked me about the book (but I couldn’t say too much, I had only just started) & I saw the couple on the next seats over, diagonally from me, pointing at the book & talking about it. Then, once we had met up with the people we were meeting that day several other people commented on it as it was sitting on the table in the coffee shop. It’s just that kind of book!

A non-book postaweek post (because I haven’t finished reading any books!)

Last night we watched Glorious 39, which I had recorded on the 14th of August, but we’d never actually watched. I remember seeing a BBC interview about the movie with David Tennant & thought it sounded like a brilliant movie, so I set it to record on V+. Roll forward a few days, then weeks, then months & it just didn’t seem like a movie we would really watch (in fairness, the Virgin description does the movie no favours) & I almost deleted it a couple times.

Boy, I am glad we didn’t! If you haven’t seen it – try to! If you don’t know what it’s about, well, here’s a bit of the storyline:

Anne Keyes is the eldest (adopted) daughter of Sir Alexander Keyes, MP (played by Bill Nighy), and influential member of the British Parliament. It’s 1939 & Britain is under the rule of Neville Chamberlain, who has embarked on a plan of appeasement with Germany in an attempt to stop the war happening before it started. Anne stumbles across recordings of meetings of the pro-appeasement movement & soon after her life begins to fall apart. While trying to discover the meaning of these recordings, dark secrets are revealed, which lead to the death of a great friend. Eventually,  Anne discovers the truth and flees to London to try confirming her suspicions, but she is caught and imprisoned, and only then does she finally begin to discover how badly (and by whom) she has been betrayed.

I have to say – this was such a fantastic movie! Full of suspense (my OH kept exclaiming about what a creepy, tense, scary movie it was!). It was all of that & more. It was creepy, full of tension & scary that any of this is true (which while it was a fictionalization, there really was an appeasement movement & some allege that things like this (and worse) really did happen all in the name of keeping Britain out of the war.

The acting was brilliant, the scenery stunning – all in all a fantastic movie!

Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs

I have found that a lot of authors who write a series of books about the same character(s) get to a point that you, the reader, wish they had killed off said character(s) well before they actually do (if they ever do). Well, it was starting to feel that way with the Tempe Brennan series. I have loved the books – the first 10, at least. 11 & 12 were not great, (bordering on awful) & I wondered if Reichs had reached that point where it would be better to just walk away from the characters because the stories were getting more & more unreal & much less enjoyable.

So, it was with some apprehension that I bought Spider Bones. I needn’t have worried.

Spider Bones see’s Dr. Brennan back in Montreal, just as spring is beginning to come into full-force. A body is discovered floating in a lake in the suburbs & Brennan & Detective Ryan investigating the find. The body is quickly ID’d as John Lowery, but that’s just where the fun begins. It seems as though the body they find was “previously” identified & buried in the USA. So,  just who is buried in the US, & who is the body Brennan & Ryan thought they had identified?

Spider Bones was full of the old twists & turns that Reichs is known for, along with the usual forensic information & sexual tension between Ryan & Brennan. It was definitely a return to form (I couldn’t put it down) for Reichs & I can only hope that her next one is as good as this.