Death In A Strange Country by Donna Leon

 

Death In A Strange Country

by 

Donna Leon

Donna Leon is an author that writes mystery novels that are set in Venice.  She has a series that revolve around a police commissioner named Guido Brunetti.  This is the second book she wrote and she wrote it in the mid 1990s.  Each one of her books addresses not only the story line of the mystery but incorporates a social issue.  In this novel a young American soldier who is a health official at an American military base in Italy is murdered in Venice.  A week later his girlfriend, who is a doctor at the base, is murdered.  And soon a mafia connected businessman is robbed.  Surrounding these crimes and the investigation of them a ring of illegal toxic waste dumping emerges.  The illegal dumping of toxic waste is an international problem.  Most of the articles I found online were written eight or ten years ago but AI chimes in that it is still happening and it is happening here in the United States too. So I don't think it is an issue that has been resolved completely although we are not hearing a lot about it recently.   More information can be found HERE,  HERE and HERE.   This book is an interesting read as are all Donna Leon's novels.  They also are books that bring world wide problems to the surface.  Please click on the author's name and book title above and follow the links in the text for more information.  The video that follows also has more information.  

Beyond The Crushing Waves by Lilly Mirren

 

Beyond the Crushing Waves 

by

Lilly Mirren

We are all very aware of the orphan trains that carried children out of then crowded eastern United States cities to the western farms from about 1854 to 1929.  But a less known practice was Great Britian transporting orphans and poor children to their colonies as late at the 1950s.  Lilly Mirren taps into this historical practice in her novel Beyond The Crushing Waves and tells the fiction story of three children who navigate the move from London to Australia.  The book held my interest and peaked my curiosity to find out more.  Although Mary, Lottie and Harry lives turn out well,  not all the children who were sent to colonies had such a happy ending to their lives.  There are a couple of organizations advocating for the victims of this practice.  The International Association of Former Child Migrants and Their Families and The Family Restoration Fund both work with the people who went through this relocation process.  I enjoyed this novel very much and found it to be a fast read.  I highly recommend it.  Please click on the links in the text and on the book title and author's name above to follow the links to learn more.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

 

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin

 

A Dance With Dragons

by 

George R. R. Martin

The last book that George R R Martin has completed in his Song Of Ice and Fire series is A Dance With Dragons.  This book was over eleven hundred pages long and I had to renew it, although I only kept it seven days past the renewal date before I completed it.  This is the first of the books that I noticed was much different than the television series.  In the other four books there were lots of similarities and the differences were in the details.  But in this novel the story line is not the same as the Game of Thrones television series.  It is obvious the television writers veered off in order to complete their programming,  The book continues to have much more detail and be more tastefully handled than the television series.  It does still have its fair share of sex and violence.  It pulls back into the story some of the characters that were left out of the fourth novel while still continuing the threads of the main characters. Cersei has her famous walk of shame in this novel and Arya is learning her art in the house of many faces. Two of the areas that are much different are the sections about the House of Greyjoy and the story line about Stannis.  Also Sansa's story is handled much differently.  As good as the television series was,  the books outshine them by far. I have my fingers crossed that George R R Martin will be able to finish writing his series.   Please click on the links at the book title and author's name above and enjoy the video that follows.  

A Feast For Crows by George R R Martin

A Feast For Crows

by 

George R R Martin

After a break from reading this series in order to get home made Christmas gifts ready by Thanksgiving, not to mention a dozen custom burp rags made for a great grand daughter's baby shower,  I resumed reading George R R Martin's Game Of Throne series early in December.  I finished the fourth book, A Feast For Crows, last evening.  This book is different than the other three in that it only follows half of the characters while the next book will bring the other half up to speed.  The story has become too involved to keep up with the people in one volume.  Some of my favorites were included in this book though.   Arya is getting her training with the faceless masters and managing to survive in the land of Braavos.  Sansa is navigating survival in  the Vale as she masters hiding her identity.  Sam's story is involved this novel.  He is trying to hold together a band of misfits as he leads them towards Oldtown.  Just as he touches base with two of Jon Snow's half brothers in the prior novel he brushes shoulders with  Arya in this one.  And Brianne, as usual, has a rough time of it.  She continues to navigate outlaws as she is trying to find Sansa.  In fact, the outlaws are hanging the kings soldiers in this novel and the crows are eating their remains.  Hence the title of the book.    Two other characters  whose stories are covered in the volume are Cersei and Jamie.  Quite a bit of the book is spent on details of the Greyjoys and much is written about the kingdom of Dorne. The next book is a continuation of the story and will cover the characters not covered in this one.  I am glad I am taking the time to read this series.  It is so much better than the television series was and so much more tastefully handled.  Anyone who doesn't choose to wrestle through this is missing out.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the link to more information and enjoy a video that can be found HERE.  

 

A Storm Of Swords by George R R Martin

 

A Storm Of Swords

by

George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin's A Storm Of Swords is the third book in his series A Song Of Fire and Ice.  This book series was turned into a popular television series on HBO several years ago.  Each book so far has been in excess of one thousand pages.  I have really been enjoying escaping into the land of Westeros this election season.  The books are not difficult to read and I am enjoying them more than I did the television series.  During this novel the character's stories continue.  Jon escapes from the wildlings and returns to the wall to fight a large battle against them.  Samwell kills one of the others and rescues a wildling girl.  Ayra manages to find her way to a ship that is going to take her to the free cities.  Catelyn and Rob are lost at the famous wedding feast.  Sansa and Tyrion both escape from Kings Landing but in different directions.  Daenerys is gathering slaves for an army to retake Westeros as her dragons grow and learn commands.  The book left me wanting more.  But since I have been plowing through the thousand pages each time I checked out one of these three books in less than three weeks I am waiting a bit to check out the fourth one.  I need to catch up on some other things.  Nevertheless I will look forward to book four.  I highly recommend this series whether you have watched the television series or not.  Please click on the book title and author's name above for more information and enjoy the video that can be found by clicking HERE. 

 

A Clash Of Kings by George R R Martin

 

A Clash Of Kings

by

George R R Martin 

The second book of George R R Martin's A Song Of Fire and Ice series is A Clash of Kings.  It is the book that season two of the renown Game Of Thrones television series is based on.   During this election season in the United States reading this series is my escape.  I do keep one eye on the headlines.  But after the 2016 election sent me spiraling into a very sad place I intend to keep the state of the union in perspective.  So spending time in the land of the Westeros is doing that for me.  During this book the character's stories that were started in  book one continue.  We follow Ayra's journey to not be discovered by the Lannisters as she tries to get back to her mom and brother. Jon Snow adjusts to the wearing the black and ventures out with the rangers into the woods and mountains beyond the wall.  Sansa is stuck at the Red Keep and does her best to stay alive.  Catelyn struggles to go on with out Ned as she agonizes over her children's fates.  Bran learns what gifts he has now that he is paraplegic. Daenerys struggles to find support to return to Westeros and reclaim her family throne.  Tyrion and Theon's stories also continue.   This book is bloodier than the first because there are five kings warring for the iron throne so more than a few battles are fought.  The book is, like the first one,  over a thousand pages.  I checked it out from the library on my Kindle and  I was surprised that I did not have to renew it.  I finished it three days before it was due.  And I am looking forward to book three.  I was sucked into  the television series but I am enjoying the books even more.  The television series didn't leave much for the imagination.  I highly recommend reading the books.  Although having watched the television series makes following the books easier,  the books are making relationships, connections and details clearer to me than they were after watching the show.   They are not children's books and are adult reading, but they are excellent books.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to learn more information and follow the link below to enjoy the video.  

Click HERE.  

A Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

 

Game Of Thrones

by

George R. R. Martin 

I avoided watching the Game Of Thrones Series on HBO until just before the final season came out.  Hubs and I were visiting my son and daughter in law during the Christmas holiday and they were watching it so we watched a couple episodes and we got hooked.   We returned home and binged all the episodes, of all the seasons, in time to watch the final season with the rest of the world in real time.  I was shocked that I watched it.  Not only very violent, it was pretty much pornography in some parts.   I was intrigued with the story line though and found myself wanting to read the books.  I put off starting reading them because they are long and I feared they would be difficult.  But with the current political climate in the U.S. I decided this election year I could use an escape.  So I checked out book one on my Libby app and was delightfully surprised.  The book is written in much better taste than the television series depicted.  Of course the violence and sex are there but not in the constant descriptive detail that the television series had.  It is an adult fiction story and not for children but it is not an offensive book.  I sailed through the one thousand some pages rather quickly.  I did have to renew it once but only was a few days into the renewal till I completed it.  I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the books in the series.  It is going to be a great escape in the coming months.   Click on the book title and author's name above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

https://youtu.be/OG2-6Tj51FM?si=08D8GwN_QcZ33qnW