blauracke – Page 3 – Cannonball Read 17

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Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie

November 7, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

While looking for a missing golf ball, Bobby Jones finds a dying man that has apparently fallen over a steep cliff. The man’s last words, “Why didn’t they ask Evans?”, appear to make no sense. Bobby’s friend, Lady Frances Derwent, is intrigued by the mystery, and together they set out to solve it. Usually I’m a huge fan of Agatha Christie, but this one is more or less a disappointment. Frankie and Bobby are the most incompetent amateur sleuths one can imagine, and Bobby especially […]

We need an enemy to give people hope.

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

November 7, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

Captain Simonini, a notary, forger, and spy, wakes up one day in his Paris apartment without remembering his past. He begins to reconstruct his memories by writing in a journal and by having a written conversation with his neighbour Abbé Dalla Piccola. The story takes them from Piedmont to Sicily and finally Paris where Simonini devises conspiracies to fill his pockets and further his ideological goals. Soon they begin to wonder if they are not the same person. This is such a clever and intriguing […]

Home Is Where You Make It

The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela

October 25, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In 2010, Natasha, a lecturer at a university in Scotland, is shocked when her student Oz is arrested in her presence as a possible jihadist, especially as she has become close to him and his mother. In the 19th century, Imam Shamil, Natasha’s research subject and one of Oz’s ancestors, is the leader of the Caucasian resistance against Imperial Russia. In an effort to turn the tide and to get his son Jamaleldin back, who was kidnapped by Russian forces many years earlier and has […]

Where the Lemon-Trees Blossom

Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy

October 23, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

When a fatal boat accident happens in a small village on a Greek island, it leads four travellers from four different countries to strike up an unlikely friendship. They are all trying to escape personal problems and resolve them by travelling. The four main characters are very likable, as well as the supporting Greek characters, but they are all mostly cookie-cutter, only defined by the big struggle in their life, and they all have one. Thomas doesn’t know how to handle his relationship with his […]

“You’re like somebody waiting very patiently and one day – you’ll do something.”

Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith

October 13, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

In a small town in New England during the 1950s, Melinda and Victor Van Allen’s marriage has become increasingly strained due to Melinda’s infidelities that she aggressively flaunts in front of all their friends and neighbours. Although Victor does appear to be indifferent to it on the surface, he is not as stoic as he pretends to be and starts a rumour that he has killed one of her former lovers. It’s quite fascinating how Highsmith presents the characters in this book. Vic is the […]

Aquatic Reveries

Eloquence of the Sardine: Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea by Bill François

September 29, 2021 by blauracke Leave a Comment

Since I have only recently read Helen Macdonald’s Vesper Flights, this book immediately reminded me of it. Both books are collections of often highly personal tales that are mostly concerned with animal life, and are written with an impressive reverence for and a deep understanding of the natural world. Where Macdonald looks to the birds in the sky and occasionally the animals roaming the land, however, physicist Bill François is solely interested in the creatures populating the more mysterious world of the oceans. It starts […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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