'A House in the Sky' by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett (4)

This story was painful to read, but brought up many questions as most good books should. It is the true story of Ms. Lindhout’s life. She describes her beginnings in a small, remote town north of Calgary, Canada. She dreamed of visiting the locations seen in the National Geographic magazines she used to escape from the realities in her home. When she became old enough she moved to the big city (Calgary), got a job waitressing and saved enough each summer, to travel the world each winter. She didn’t pick the obvious, glamorous locations: Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam. She picked the grittier locales from her magazines: Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. She often went alone and stayed in 1 star hotels to make her money stretch farther. Eventually she goes to Somalia with an old boyfriend and gets kidnapped for ransom. The final half of the book is the horrible retelling of that experience. Throughout this book I vacillated between two questions: what does it take in one’s upbringing and personality to have the courage to travel to these places? And how could she be so selfish to put herself is such obvious danger just to say she had been there? I realized something about myself – I am far too cautious (upbringing and personality) and good with numbers. A combination that says: if the risk is greater than 30% that something bad may happen, I will not take that risk. In addition to bringing up good questions for all of us, this book delves into the complication of being a Western woman kidnapped by young Muslim men and boys. I often thought ‘how would I have handled that?’ and was impressed by her strength, intelligence and overall ability to forgive.

'Bringing up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel

Bringing up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel (4)

I will start by saying if you liked ‘Wolf Hall’, you will like this novel. I should also confess that I am enamored with all things Henry VIII. Compared with the present day’s mostly ineffectual monarchy, Henry VIII managed to manipulate his religion and marital status with lasting effects for the country and western world. All this from a Tudor, not even one of the strongest English royal bloodlines. Hilary Mantel has taken this well-known story (in this case, the demise of wife #2, Anne Boleyn) and tells it, once again, from Thomas Cromwell’s point of view. Cromwell is infamous in many ways, though usually as the lowborn executor of Henry’s will – which is often to alter facts to allow the King to do whatever he wants. While the writing is not easy to follow (the large cast of characters with titles differing from names and often the lack of reference to the speaker), it is better than ‘Wolf Hall’, the first in this series.  I also found it easier to read than most non-fiction books about this subject. Ms. Mantel has done an admirable job in bringing out the story while sticking to the plot and nature of the characters as agreed by many scholars. The only exception may be Thomas Cromwell himself. She has given him a humanity and lack of self-promotion that is atypical of most non-fiction accounts.

'Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea' by Gary Kinder

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, Gary Kinder (4)

This true story of a shipwreck, discovery and recovery is quite amazing. The first third of the book tells the harrowing story of a ship in the 1850’s struggling to carry it’s California gold rush gold back to New York City. Mr. Kinder has you holding your breath as a terrible Atlantic storm hits the ship and the passengers struggle to survive. The second third is far less hair-raising as it jumps back to modern day (the 1980’s) as a describes the person and processes used to possibly one day discover and recover the wreckage of the ship. This section lagged a bit for me. The descriptions of equipment and discoveries were interesting, but rather long-winded. The last third of the book picked up again with the rush to find and hold onto the shipwreck before someone else gets there. While the story of the discovery of one of the most famous and profitable (over 20 tons of gold!) shipwrecks was amazing, unfortunately the not yet published epilogue is disturbing. Apparently Tommy Thompson, the creative genius who came up with the inventive equipment and processes for finding the wreck is now a federal fugitive believed to have escaped with much of the gold!

'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga (3)

This Man Booker Prize winning novel is described as a dark comedy, though when I look back, I don’t remember laughing at any point. The narrator is definitely precocious and part of the anti-hero craze of late - he is a self-professed murderer turned entrepreneur who tells the whole story to the Premier of China in a letter. Wait, that sounds funny! While I may not have laughed at the time, Mr. Adiga does tell a believable tale of modern India from the point of view of a village boy who goes to the big city and becomes a driver for a rich family. He carefully illustrates the dichotomy of India from a servant’s perspective. This book has the usual fantastical features of an Eastern tale, but they are understandable as part of this boy’s daily life and experiences. He also deals with the real corruption that is faced by rich and poor, but in very different ways. This book is getting a ‘3’ because even after finishing, I can’t decide if I really liked it. I found it interesting and can appreciate it – but I didn’t really enjoy reading it.

'Allegiant' by Veronica Roth

Allegiant, Veronica Roth (3)

I started this book, the third in the Divergent series, with some trepidation. Fans had not been kind to this last installment. Some felt Ms. Roth had betrayed her fans – so I was ready for the worst. Oddly, that seemed to help. My expectations were so low that it was relatively easy to surpass them. I do feel that it is the weakest of the three, with little progress in the story for an overall climax, and holes in the plot (in the explanation of the main characters reality and the external truth, there remained unexplained many details regarding the overall world and its interaction with the new characters). The story continues to follow Tris and Four as they lead a small group outside of the city. This is the first time either has seen the ‘real world’. The rest of the book focuses on their introduction to the external society and how they will interact with the remaining faction-less leaders back in the city. The series remains dark, with significant battles and deaths. In the end, my imagination thought up worst endings than Ms. Roth chose to use. I found the ending satisfying, though giving the hype around the series, I was hoping for something more inventive.