We made a list and checked it twice to recommend 4 books to read and give as gifts. We read all of them recently and think you can’t go wrong with one or all of them.
You will find them quite different. Yet, each will keep you reading and enjoying.
We offer reviews in the ConsumerMojo.com Book section. But here’s a quick look at 4 books we like.
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
Every time I read a book by Louise Penny, I want to linger in the world that she creates. I’m always sorry when something pulls me away.
The Long Way Home is the latest in Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. And we find Gamache retired and living in the idyllic village of Three Pines in Quebec near the American border. The story starts out slowly, reels you in and then offers surprise after surprise.
Just when you think you understand the mystery, you discover how an artful writer like Penny can tease you, keep you reading and deliver a suspenseful and powerful payoff. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS
Paris Match by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington is really getting around these days. Stuart Woods’ ex-cop attorney, intrepid crime-solver and effortless lucky-getter is in Paris in his latest escapade. Paris Match pits Stone against a criminal Russian oligarch who wants revenge for his brother’s death, and only Stone’s murder will satisfy his blood lust. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS.
A Dancer In The Dust
, Thomas H. Cook
Cook creates a literary mystery with soul.
How many of us look back on our youth and idealism and wonder if we were foolish and event hurtful to others. Cook, an Edgar Award winner, skillfully uses the backdrop of a lawless, fictional, African country in turmoil to explore the intersection of love and idealism.
In A Dancer In The Dust, we meet Ray Campbell, an expert in risk management, twenty years after his return from a stint as an aide worker for a non-governmental organization (NGO). He went to, the fictional, Luanda to invest a foundation’s money and create infrastructure projects to transform the country. And almost immediately, he fell in love with a young white woman born and raised in a traditional African village who wanted everything to remain the same. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
When I finished The Children Act, I hugged the book to my chest and continued to think and think and think. I’m still thinking.
In this short novel, Ian McEwan explores the difficult choices that we confront in relationships, in religion and the law. He brings us into the life of Fiona Maye, a respected British High Court judge in the Family Division.
We learn quickly that her long-time marriage to a professor is strained and perhaps over. But she buries herself in demanding work to avoid dealing with her roiling emotions and making a decision about whether to continue the marriage. Her cases involve bitter divorces and custody battles and she takes great pride in writing elegant legal decisions. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS
